County health boards need to make health decisions
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Editor,
Winston Churchill said, “Healthy citizens are the greatest asset any country can have.”
When my car needs repair, I go to a mechanic. For tax advice, I go to a financial professional. When I need healthcare, I go to a doctor. I don’t go to a legislator for these needs.
County health boards are staffed by people qualified to establish protocols to protect public health. For instance, if municipal water supplies become contaminated in a disaster event, they can take action by creating an order. We should let them do their job.
House Bill 257, before the state legislature, aims to protect businesses from income loss by transferring the decisions to the government rather than allowing county health boards to create public safety orders. The worst public health disaster in 100 years has been with us for a year. Businesses have suffered. The entire world has suffered. Throwing out public protection measures isn’t the answer. Programs to help businesses, like the Paycheck Protection Program, are in place to offset business losses. The health board is not the enemy of businesses; it’s the protector of the public and should be allowed to do its job. Please contact your legislators at leg.mt.gov.
Stephanie Brancati
Big Arm
