Health Department missed by resident

To the Editor: In January, the Sparta Township Council decided to abolish the Sparta Health Department (SHD) and to merge with the Sussex County Health Department. The council made this choice despite the fact the town meeting was full of Sparta residents protesting the decision. My first experience with the county health department has been unpleasant and frustrating. I called at the end of April with a simple question and had to listen to an automated menu before being transferred to voicemail. I waited a week for the county representative to call me back before calling again and leaving yet another voicemail message. So far, it has been almost a month and I still have not received an answer. I have lost count of the messages I left there. The operator explained to me that the representative I am trying to contact is very busy. This single experience is vastly different from my numerous experiences with the Sparta Health Department. Every contact I had with the SHD from 1986 to 2007 was encouraging and informative. I was never told that a health officer was too busy to talk to me. I never had to listen to a “robot” before speaking to a human at SHD. I never had to wait more than a few hours for an answer. Now the SHD is gone forever and I am left to wonder if the council really has our best interests at heart. I still don’t understand why they voted to abolish SHD. I can’t see what benefits came from getting rid of it. I worry what will happen if someone in Sparta has a serious health concern and is forced to listen to the County’s impersonal automated menu or leave messages on voicemail. With the taxes we pay here, I think we all deserve an explanation for why we no longer have a Health Department. In the middle of this confusion, one thing is certain: I miss the Sparta Health Department! Lauren Dermody Sparta