‘Unnecessary political steps’: Douglas County health director opposes Omaha’s epidemic ordinance | Politics & Government

The Omaha area’s leading public health official spoke in opposition of a proposed ordinance Tuesday that would change the process of enacting health mandates and regulations in the case of an epidemic.

Douglas County Health Director Lindsay Huse called for City Council members to vote down the ordinance or rework the proposal’s language, which she said would “bring with it several issues that could be detrimental to the health of the people who are living here in Omaha.”

Under the proposal, any health mandate determined by the health director would have to be presented to the mayor for review and approval. Any rejections or approvals made by the mayor then would go before the City Council, which would have the power to affirm or reverse the mayor’s decision.

The ordinance presented Tuesday was a revised version of an ordinance originally proposed by Councilman Vinny Palermo, which would have stripped decision-making powers from the Douglas County health director during a pandemic.

Originally, Palermo, with support from Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert, called for the creation of a “special epidemic health director.”

The county health director would have had the power only to certify the presence of an epidemic. After a threat were recognized, the newly established special epidemic health director would have been responsible for coming up with a plan to manage it.

That position would have been filled by the physician medical director for the Omaha Fire Department. That post is held by Dr. Robert Chaplin, a pediatric critical care physician at Children’s Hospital & Medical Center and the Nebraska Medical Center.

Huse thanked Palermo for amending the original ordinance, but told council members that the proposal has not been presented with enough time “to adequately understand the impact the ordinance would have broadly.”

“As written, the ordinance is taking steps backwards in protecting our community,” Huse said. “The language and the intent of the language really deserves a deeper dive.”

Huse took issue with the use of the word epidemic rather than pandemic.

An epidemic occurs somewhat regularly compared to a pandemic, Huse said, and it could include a foodborne illness or an outbreak of the flu.

“The ability to act with extreme speed in these situations is key in how we are able to control spread and harm from reaching other people,” Huse said.

About 10 people spoke in support of the ordinance Tuesday. Many said they approved of placing more decision-making powers in the hands of elected officials.

A few spoke outright against the mask mandate that was issued by Huse in January, labeling it a form of government overreach. 

Nearly two months ago, Huse issued a mask mandate for Omaha amid a surge of COVID-19 infections. She cited an “astronomical spike in cases” and an already overburdened health care system as her justification for the mandate.

Huse said Tuesday that she would have liked to have acted sooner in enacting the mask mandate. 

“Would I have liked to move sooner? Yes,” Huse said. “Why didn’t I? I was trying to provide as much respect and balance given that there were a number of our city officials who weren’t in support of that action.”

At the time, the mandate appeared to have the backing of a majority of City Council members. Some health officials, including the chief of the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s infectious diseases division, also voiced support for the mandate.

But a trio of council members — not including Palermo — opposed it, as did Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts and Stothert. Stothert did, however, concede that Huse had the authority to issue the mandate in her role as Omaha’s health director. The mayor said neither she nor the council could void the mandate, which Huse eventually lifted in February.

The state reacted with a lawsuit in which Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson sought a temporary and permanent injunction declaring the mandate “void and unlawful.” He argued that Huse did not have “jurisdiction or authority” to issue the mandate.

The state argued that such mandates require approval from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.

A judge rejected that argument in January. Siding with the city and county, she pointed out that the plain language of the Omaha municipal code requires that “the health director shall take all measures necessary to prevent the introduction … of malignant, contagious and infectious diseases.”

A city ordinance delegating such authority within Omaha city limits to the county health director has been in place since 1949.

“Sometimes difficult and unpopular decisions have to be made and introducing unnecessary political steps into that process could impact people’s lives and their deaths,” Huse said.