October Garrett County Health Planning Council Update

By Diane Lee, Public Information Officer, Garrett County Health Department

The Garrett County Board of Health met in a joint session with the monthly Garrett County Health Planning Council meeting at the Garrett County Health Department on October 26, 2023.

During the meeting, Garrett County Health Officer Bob Stephens presented the Health Department’s most recent Fiscal Year 2023 Annual Report, available on their website at https://garretthealth.org/annual-report/, and answered questions from the public and local agency and organizational representatives about several of the key program reports presented during the session.

Following the presentation of the Garrett County Health Department’s Fiscal Year 2023 Annual Report, Garrett County Health Strategist Shelley Argabrite gave an update on multiple local programs and systems working to address food insecurity across the county. Included in her report were the SPINE (State Partnerships Improving Nutrition and Equity) grant and the newly launched Garrett County Harvest Hub. It was announced that the group would meet later that evening for the first Garrett County Harvest Hub public meeting to develop new programs in Garrett County to support local farmers while increasing access and utilization of available resources through SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program).

The next Garrett County Health Planning Council meeting is tentatively scheduled for November 30, 2023, at 8 a.m. at the Garrett County Health Department in Oakland. The meeting is available both in-person and virtually through Google Meets. Please see the Garrett County Health Department’s website at https://garretthealth.org/ for updates and any changes to previously announced meetings.

For questions about the Garrett County Health Planning Council, please reach out to [email protected].

Update submitted by John Corbin, Garrett County Health Department, Health Planning Council Guest