Collegedale city commissioners were unaware that the city’s police department had entered into an agreement with the Tennessee Department of Health to receive the names and addresses of residents who test positive for COVID-19.
Commissioners discussed their lack of a heads-up at a meeting last week. But the department hasn’t pulled out of the agreement, and the commission plans to formally adopt it during its next commission meeting in June.
Last month, the state Department of Health, at the request of Gov. Bill Lee, offered to share otherwise federally protected health information with law enforcement agencies that signed an agreement with the state, something that wasn’t publicized at the time. The idea was to keep officers safe from potential infection amid a global pandemic.
The practice drew criticism for potentially breaching privacy and discouraging people from getting tested after media reports exposed the arrangement earlier this month.
In Hamilton County, the local health department had a similar agreement with the 911 Communications Center, but stopped that practice in the interest of “ensuring trust” with the community.