Hunterdon County approves health officer shared service with Sussex County
Returns Shared Service Favor From A Decade Ago
HUNTERDON COUNTY, NJ – Hunterdon County’s Board of Commissioners recently approved sharing the county’s licensed Health Officer with Sussex County for a four-month period, returning a favor to Sussex County which had provided the same shared service for Hunterdon County ten years ago.
Hunterdon Board of Commissioners Director John E. Lanza said, “Let’s call it Hunterdon County’s good neighbor policy. It is only right that, the County being in a position to return the favor for Sussex County’s support from a decade ago, that we do so now. And Sussex is providing for the cost.”
“Hunterdon County has a long history of engaging in cost saving shared services with other counties and our municipalities. Examples include the county wide 9-1-1 communications system, the geographic information system (GIS) mapping available to our towns, and jail consolidation with Warren County, just to name a few.” Lanza said
Under the shared service agreement, Sussex County will provide Hunterdon with $14,000 to cover the cost of the services of the county’s licensed health officer, Karen DeMarco, from March to the end of June.
“Ms. DeMarco had proven herself to be an all-star even before the pandemic, during which her leadership has been so valuable. We appreciate Ms. DeMarco’s willingness to help out Sussex County in their time of nee,” Lanza said.
County Administrator Kevin Davis said, “Ms. DeMarco’s work for Sussex County will not come at the expense of her time and commitment to Hunterdon County. I am advised that the state Department of Health supports establishing this shared service.”
