Public Health Report

Today I attended this month’s public health board meeting. Here are some points that stood out to me:

You’re nuts if you’re fat.

Dr. Gary Goldbaum, our public health officer, spoke about a study published in Neurology that links “excessive abdominal fat in midlife” to “an increased risk of dementia in later life”. I better loose my “excessive abdominal fat” as quickly as I can. However, based on my last election results, some folks clearly think it’s too late for that.

Access to Health Care

Dr. Goldbaum also presented the findings of a new report that studies folks' access to health care. Nearly 15% of non-elderly adults have difficulty accessing health care. Click here for the full report.

Cuts to Public Health?

The budget outlook for the public health district is pretty bleak. The district will spend down its ending cash balance this year, and may have to consider cuts for next year. Sigh.

Hidden Septic Tanks

When I bought my house, I should have done a better job inspecting it. After the purchase, I soon noticed a green patch in my back yard. It turns out that my house was hooked up to both the sanitary sewer and an old septic tank. Yuk!

I had to redo my sewer plumbing, decommission the septic tank, and get all the permits and inspections done. However, I am glad I caught problem. My family is much better off with it gone.

The SHD, who is charged with inspecting active septic tanks, has a new website where you can check and see if there was ever a septic tank on a given property (click here)

Before ever buying property, I would recommend you go to this site. Look up the property and make darn sure that any septic tank is properly decommissioned before signing off on the purchase.

You should also check your own property to make sure any septic tank on it has been properly decommissioned. Your health depends on it.