
LUNCH AND LEARN Williams County Health Commissioner Oscar Hernandez III addresses the Montpelier Chamber of Commerce at their Lunch and Learn meeting this past Wednesday
By: Jenna Frisby
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
The Montpelier Chamber of Commerce held a Lunch and Learn event at Drop Tine Winery & Tap House on Wednesday, April 24th. Their guest speaker for the meeting was Oscar Hernandez III, the new Williams County Health Commissioner.
The meeting started with a meet and greet so Hernandez could become acquainted with everyone and the roles and positions they hold.
Hernandez himself presented information about himself as well as past positions he held so everyone could really get to know him and why he is passionate about the position he now holds.
Hernandez is a Pettisville resident who grew up in the area playing baseball. He moved to Toledo to study pre-med but discovered he did not have a passion for it and ended up falling into a sanitary position for two years in Fulton County.
From there he took on a position as the Fulton County Emergency Response Team Coordinator. He enjoyed training in FEMA and mass casualty events, and even got the opportunity to train in Anniston, Alabama.
From there he had the opportunity to go to Defiance and work as their Environmental Health Director. He held that position for about 3.5 years before accepting a position at Meijer working in their corporate office, for eight years, as their Safety and Quality Compliance Leader.
While at Meijer he oversaw stores in four states, ensuring their deli and fresh produce departments met or exceeded all the regulations as a public health team.
When COVID hit he had to help manage between 70,000-80,000 employees as well as all the new regulations that impacted them. Hernandez also held a huge role in opening 17 new stores and remodeling between 50-70 stores.
Before he left, Meijer won the Black Pearl Award. This award is the most prestigious award in the world given by the International Association for Food Protection, “recognizing a company’s efforts in advancing food safety and quality through consumer programs, employee relations, educational activities, adherence to standards, and support of the goals and objectives of IAFP”.
Hernandez also shared about his family. His children are involved in extracurricular activities, and he is close to his sister who lives over in the Middle East in Jordan. He also shared his love for buying old furniture and restoring it.
From there, Hernandez provided details on how public health got its start. Back in the 1840’s-1860’s, an English man named John Snow realized many individuals were getting cholera, the result of consuming bacteria ridden water.
Cholera would then cause severe dehydration, causing a pandemic backing the 1800’s. Snow then connected that those who were not getting sick were all brewmasters.
Those individuals who were only drinking beer. They were unknowingly riding the water of the bacteria through the pasteurization process of making beer.
Through Snow’s discovery the government closed the Broad Street well in England, saving potentially thousands of individuals.
Hernandez then transitioned to how public health now looks. From state and federal codes to health promotions, statistics, and community assessments, the public health system as a whole has certainly changed since the 1800’s as it looks not at the impact it makes now but the impact it holds to affect the future.
He gave a look at last year’s vital statistics. The county supplied 1,324 birth certificates. The new online availability for this has made it more accessible for individuals to be able to request these.
Out of those 1,324 birth certificates, 199 of those were births that happened in Williams County. The county is looking to make death certificates also available to request online by the end of this year.
The WIC program helped 699 families last year. With 277 of those families being monthly participants. The program was able to survey and gather that 52% of those involved in the Williams County WIC program are breastfeeding mothers.
Hernandez emphasized the importance of breastfeeding due to the great benefits an infant can receive through antibodies transferred from the mother.
WIC also was able to provide $2,400 to go towards local farmers markets by giving out coupons to their participants to use at local markets.
Hernandez reviewed other programs as well. The Water Pollution Control (WPCLOS) provided 1.3 million dollars to help the county to divert 9.8 million gallons of wastewater.
The Operation and Maintenance program, which has been mandated by the state, has allowed for GIS, a county GPS mapping system which pinpoints where septic systems and wells are located.
This allows for better guidelines to be put in place, ultimately leading to residents to have added value to their homes.
Another program the county is able to have is ECHO. This program is made possible because of the partnership with the United Way.
It provides two distinct objectives: to establish and collaborate strength in the community, and to reduce the use of drugs and alcohol by young people by educating them on the lasting effects. Williams County was awarded $125,000 from this program, which they put right back into the county.
Last year, one of the ways they did this was by hosting Scrape the Vape in which 200 students were involved. They also made it possible for 250 students to be involved in various conferences and retreats.
Hernandez wrapped up talking about CHIP (Community Health Improvement Plan). CHIP is working to help others see the value of building in Williams County so they can have a good life.
Hernandez explained that this program is helping the community to not just see the quantity of life they can have but rather, the quality of life they can have by living in Williams County.
Hernandez concluded by asking for any questions. Most of those questions derived from one another and all involved the plan for the new Williams County Health Building.
This building would combine all the current facility needs into one location. Currently, the Williams County Health Department resides at 310 Lincoln Ave in Montpelier, with a WIC office in that building as well as another WIC office in Bryan at the East Annex Building (Bryan Municipal Courthouse), just east of downtown.
The plan is to build on a piece of land that was bought prior to Hernandez taking office, just outside of Bryan. This would mean Montpelier would lose foot traffic from those who go to the health department.
This concern was voiced as Montpelier is in the center of the county and it could mean farther travels for some to be able to reach the heath department to receive the resources they need. Hernandez replied that it was a board decision, one that he was not a part of, but that he understood those concerns.
The importance of a new building and location is for the benefit of the community. Right now, the county’s Environmental Health Team is downstairs at the Montpelier building, making it not handicapped accessible for the community due to there being no elevators in the building.
Downstairs is also where the Health Department’s main conference room is, making it difficult to hold all meetings due to it not being handicap accessible. This has meant that they have had to move meetings to the East Annex Building in Bryan.
The potential new facility would be located on Brunicardi Way north of Bryan, west of State Route 15. Currently, there is not an official property number as it is just bare land at this time.