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Arapahoe County appoints first board of health ahead of coming split from Tri-County

By Seth Klamann June 14, 2022 | updated 3 years ago

Arapahoe County has appointed the first members of its Foundational Board of Health ahead of its scheduled split from Tri-County Health Department at the end of this year.

The board includes two county commissioners, a veteran public health official, a pathologist and hospital system executive, and a longtime social services worker.

Their appointment to the county’s first health board is the latest concrete step on a path toward the dissolution of the state’s largest local public health agency, fractured by disagreements over COVID-19 mitigation measures. 

The board members include county commissioners Nancy Jackson, the county’s liaison to Tri-County, and Nancy Sharpe, who also serves on the board of social services. Both will serve on the health board until Jan. 1, 2023. Bebe Kleinman, a longtime volunteer and nonprofit worker focused on housing, food and health care, will serve until Jan. 1, 2026, as will Heather Signorelli, a pathologist and vice president of HCA Healthcare. Shawn Davis, a longtime public health official, will serve until Dec. 31, 2028. 

“We received numerous applications for the Foundational Board of Health from deeply qualified individuals,” Jackson said in a statement, “and the three we’ve selected have a wide range of experience in public and environmental health, nonprofits and startup businesses, and they all have long track records of pursuing and attaining equitable services and outcomes in health care.”

The board’s first meeting is set for 3 p.m. Wednesday.

Tri-County, which had overseen Adams, Arapahoe and Douglas counties’ public health operations for decades, has been headed for dissolution since September, when Douglas County announced its intent to leave. That followed a contentious back-and-forth about masking in schools, which would later lead to the Douglas County School District suing its newly formed board of health.

After Douglas County’s announcement, Adams and Arapahoe counties followed suit. An Adams County official said that though Douglas County’s decision forced their hand, political disagreements with its neighbors — she did not specify why — had laid the groundwork for a divorce before COVID-19 arrived.

Arapahoe County’s first board will be tasked with readying the county’s health department to take over for Tri-County on Jan. 1, 2023.

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