The Grand Traverse County Health Department wants another nurse to help fight outbreaks of measles and pertussis.
The health department has been stretched thin since the pertussis outbreak began six weeks ago. Workers have put in more than 1,000 hours of overtime and many worked through Thanksgiving.
Health Officer Wendy Trute says her team has been busy re-tracing the steps of people who have come down with pertussis and measles.
“(That) could mean anywhere from two phone calls to 50 phone calls,” said Trute. “(It) depends on how many people they were with … depends on kids in classrooms, depends if they attended church. You have to investigate all those because you’re always looking for exposure.”
Trute will ask the county’s ways and means committee to appropriate funds for a new public health nurse. The committee meets Tuesday night at 6 p.m. at the governmental center.
She said a new nurse would help with a new Michigan law that goes into effect January 1st. The law says that any parent seeking a vaccination waiver for “philosophical” reasons will have to first speak with a nurse.
“It’s a good mandate from the state for it to happen but there’s no money behind (it) to support the local health departments, who then have to provide those educational sessions,” said Trute.
Trute hopes the law will help lower the 11 percent rate of vaccination waivers in Grand Traverse County. That number is more than five times the national average.
But Trute knows the new nurse could have a tough time winning over parents who have strong opinions on immunizations.
“I think pubic health nurses (are) passionate about it and they strongly believe in it,” she said. “They’ll fight for it and they’re willing to have those discussions, even if they’re difficult discussions, because it’s important that the parents are making decisions on a real scientific basis.”
The new nurse would cost the county $62,000 a year, although Trute said the state would cover about half the cost.
CORRECTION: If the Health Department's request is fulfilled soon, Trute says it's "not likely" the State of Michigan would pay half the cost for next year.