Interlocal health pact for Games duly signed

Utah County commissioners signed off Tuesday on an interlocal agreement by seven counties worried about managing public health and communicable disease during the 2002 Winter Olympic Games.

Now the seven-county cooperative is free to apply for federal grants and assistance, said a local health official."By uniting, we can go after grant money. We already have a full-time staff person coming from the Federal Drug and Food Administration department," said Ralph Clegg, deputy director of the county health department.

"This is going to be hard for all of us, to prepare for the large crowds and the increased demands. It's mind boggling," Clegg said. "But then it's mind boggling that we're all able to work together and it's actually been going really well."

Dr. Joseph Miner, director of the county health department, said Utah County officials are the last to sign off on the agreement that basically allows for cost and revenue sharing incurred because of the games.

The Utah County Board of Health signed the agreement first.

Salt Lake, Summit, Wasatch, Davis, Weber and Morgan counties are the other participating government entities along with the Utah Department of Health and the Utah Department of Environmental Quality.

Under the agreement the counties recognize their resources "will be severely challenged by the additional demands on services, such as food, lodging and transportation, necessary to serve the estimated half million people who will participate, support and attend the Winter Olympics events."

County health departments will have large numbers of temporary food establishments to license and inspect and an increased demand for sanitary facilities in areas not now so equipped.

Solid waste and wastewater volumes will increase.

Adequate quantities of safe drinking water will have to be provided and existing sources must be protected from contamination. The possible importation and/or outbreak of communicable disease must be managed.

In a recent Utah County Health Board meeting, Clegg said he's aware that the nursing associations in Utah County and in Wasatch are worried about the Games and the unprecedented demands that could be made upon existing small staffs in Summit and Wasatch counties.

He cited an example from Denver when the pope visited and 300,000 students attended an event featuring him. Forty thousand people became ill from heat exhaustion and 20,000 were briefly hospitalized.

"We could very easily have something like that occur," he said. "We'll have to help each other."