Next week, Delaware County is expected to break ground on a wellness center in Yeadon that will be a site for coronavirus vaccines and the home of its new health department in January 2022, writes Vinny Vella for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

As an economic impact study on the new health department continues, a Public Health Steering Committee has been getting input from clergy and other community members about what they’d like the new department to be.

The pandemic highlighted why a health department is needed in Delaware County, but there are less obvious needs as well, according to County Council President Brian Zidek.

Municipalities have to take up the task of inspecting restaurants for health code violations.

Children with asthma is a county problem. Teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases are above average for Delaware County.

Without countywide coordination, a state pandemic shutdown order of restaurants was unevenly enforced from town to town.

A lack of public health infrastructure contributed toward making the pandemic harder to contain in Delaware County, according to Rosemarie Halt, pandemic liaison between Delaware and Chester counties.

“Because we’ve underfunded public health, we’ve been at great risk,” she said.

Read more about Delaware County’s health department plans in The Philadelphia Inquirer.