NORWICH - The Chenango County Department of Health is eying the creation of two new “public health educator” positions aimed at generating “more regular and effective public health communication,” according to department heads.

Public Health Department Director Isaiah Sutton brought the proposal before the county’s Health and Human Services Committee last month, arguing that added staff is necessary to counter the challenges of communication between his department and local residents.

Sutton said the added positions will play a key role in pushing out critical information, citing struggles the department’s had with effective communication particularly during emergencies. As it stands, Chenango Public Health has one health educator on staff - a member of its nursing division who handles most media relations alongside Sutton. The department grappled with fast-moving information during the pandemic and, more recently, with unexpected mid-April snowstorms that devastated portions of the county.

“We found that communication with the public is an area where the department fell short,” Sutton said. “Part of the problem is that we don’t have one media outlet that covers the whole county. People get their news from a lot of different sources. We want to broaden what we can do.”

The two new positions will help the Chenango Department of Public Health oversee public communications and create a stronger presence that includes better media relations, more social media, and an overhaul of the department’s website. Workers will handle public communications for the department’s five divisions: public health, nursing, code enforcement, environmental health, and children’s services.

Money for the two new positions comes by way of a core state aid increase to the Chenango County Department of Public Health that was included in the state’s budget. Added funds will allow the department to increase its staff size, bolster outreach, and sustain existing staff without using any local share, Sutton said.

The department would have to re-evaluate staffing if the state ever cuts its budget.

Despite there being no need to increase local taxes, the department’s proposition to add two new positions saw some hesitancy at a meeting of the County Board of Supervisors on Monday from officials who argued the validity of adding more government employees, especially in times of economic uncertainty. Even so, a resolution approving the change passed the board with only one vote against it.

“I think this is something that received generally positive feedback from the committees,” said Sutton. “The committees have realized that communication is hard and that communication in small towns has unique challenges, and that’s what we’re up against. This is something that I think will have an immediate resounding impact on the community.”