At the Tuesday, March 9 meeting of the Early City Council, an item to approve financial support to the City of Brownwood for the Brownwood/Brown County Health Department expenses related to vaccination efforts from March 1 through April 30 was on the agenda. However, the Early City Council, after meeting in closed session, did not take a vote on the matter.

Early City Council member Leland Acker spoke with BrownwoodNews.com earlier this week on behalf of the council regarding the decision.

“The state law requires that the county provide public health services to all residents of the county,” Acker said. “That is a statutory requirement on Brown County. The responsibility for funding that falls on the commissioners court and the county judge. That is the law of the land, and under that law the health department cannot deny services to any citizen of the county. Early residents do not have to worry about being denied a vaccine because of the actions of the city council. Public health is a responsibility of county government, so basically our position is if there are additional funds needed to meet that service, it is the responsibility of the county to come up with those funds, and then our residents can hold the county accountable through their commissioners.”

BrownwoodNews.com reached out to Brown County Judge Paul Lilly, who said, “Brown County Government in its entirety is committed to do all that we can to stop what’s left of this virus in our community, and the county government will do all that we can to aid each and every one of our citizens that requests help, and this includes the residents of Early. The health and safety of every man, woman, and child in this county is our number one priority.”

Acker added, “In Brown County there is an agreement between the county and the City of Brownwood where the City would take over the operation of the health department, and this happened ages ago. The commissioners court would help fund it, and in exchange the city-operated heath department would provide those required services to the citizens of all Brown County. Brownwood would be correct if they felt like there was too much of a financial burden being put on them, but the responsibility to alleviate that falls right back on Brown County.”

Brownwood City Manager Emily Crawford said, “Our predicament is that vaccination efforts have out-paced funding. Grants and federal funds for distributing COVID vaccines are currently limited. By continuing to provide vaccines, the City of Brownwood was going to be operating beyond existing budget and grant funds. On Feb. 23, the Brownwood City Council approved $79,000 to the health department to continue vaccination efforts and requested other governmental entities commit funding on a per capita basis. On March 1, the Brown County Commissioner’s Court approved $51,000 to the health department.”

Acker stated he applauds the efforts of the City of Brownwood and the Brownwood/Brown County Health Department, but again reiterated the financial burden should fall at the feet of the county.

“I appreciate the work that department has done, and the consensus I got from my fellow councilmen is they appreciate the efforts that are going on,” Acker said. “Brownwood stepped up to the plate when they undertook this agreement with Brown County to operate the health department and that’s to be appreciated. But at this time we need to hold the county accountable and get the county to step up and do what the county needs to do.”

Brownwood Mayor Stephen Haynes said, “The City of Brownwood remains committed to ending the pandemic, and we will do what we must for our residents and our community.”

Acker, speaking on a personal level, added, “One of my objections is if the local municipalities go in to funding the health department without having a voice on the board or a say in it, then we’re allocating our taxpayer dollars to an organization that our taxpayers cannot hold accountable. So in order to maintain propriety we have to keep those lanes established. Each level of government has its own function and when each level functions within its lane, what it’s supposed to do, it works well. When we blur those lines, that’s when we wind up with situations like what we’re facing here.”

Acker added that COVID vaccinations are available within Brown County outside those being offered through the Brownwood/Brown County Health Department.

“Clinics, hospitals, pharmacies, there are a number of privately held organizations, some for profit some not for profit, that are offering vaccines,” Acker said. “There is some cooperation between the health department and at least one of those organizations, the health department is cooperating with Hendrick Medical Center to keep everybody on the same list so there’s not duplication and inefficiencies that way. But residents of Brown County have any number of options to be able to obtain the vaccine.”

Lisa Dick, Brownwood/Brown County Health Department Administrator, said, “As long as there is a public demand for vaccines, we will respond.”

Over the past week, the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) expanded vaccine availability to two new groups of people, educators and individuals age 50-64 (called 1C).

“There are still thousands of residents in our county who want the vaccine, but have been unable to get it due to limited supplies and long waiting lists,” Dick added.

The Brownwood/Brown County Health Department has vaccinated over 3,100 area residents through partnerships with Hendrick, Ranger College, HPU, and volunteers. Next week, they are poised to distribute 2,800 vaccines.