Dr. P. Basil Vassantachart presented his ideas for creating a health department for West Covina at the City Council meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 19.
Vassantachart also provided other alternatives, including creating smaller coalitions with other cities that could result in more autonomy when making health and safety decisions that don’t align with those from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. The city requested the options a few weeks ago, as leaders grew unhappy with county health officials’ decisions and their impact on the community and its businesses.
Vassantachart said a local health department would better serve the community than the city’s current setup, aligned with the county’s team.
“The county has overwhelming demand from all cities,” he said. “Each city should be looking after their own residents. Without proper guidance and medical leadership, each city should have a medical consultant to advise the city. I think that is the proper way to do it.”
West Covina Councilmember Tony Wu has been lobbying for months for the creation of a city health department to have more independence and control over orders, guidance and mandates. Wu said he is concerned how the decisions by the county will affect the fiscal health of the community as well as the physical health of its residents.
“We want something that can help the end game,” Wu said. “Hopefully this group of doctors can give us some kind of different option. Hopefully this is some kind of prototype and give it a try. Nothing wrong to give it a try.”
One of the questions raised by other councilmembers and members of the community is the cost to the city to create a local health department. Mayor Pro Tem Dario Castellanos urged a cost-neutral plan.
“It’s an important discussion, at least the beginning of it,” Castallanos said. “If this digs into our budget, we’re not going to be in favor of it.”
Vassantachart said he proposes a self-sustaining model. He said cities need to find creative ways to fund such programs.
“It will take a lot of effort and potentially some expenses,” Vassantachart said. “It should be creative and be able to prudently establish any program.”
Benefits could include more control over local decisions and better communication with the community, Vassantachart said. One of the drawbacks coudl be expense, however.
Castellanos asked if there was a way to coordinate with the county health department to make decisions that are more focused on the needs of West Covina.
Vassantachart said he wanted to present the City Council with a variety of options.
“The question is if you really need a local health department or do you want to develop some other model to help improve the local needs specifically to the San Gabriel Valley area,” he said.
Mayor Letty Lopez-Viado said she wants to examine every option to improve health and safety decisions for the city.
“We are always looking for options for improvements that better our residents and better our city,” Lopez-Viado said.
