Erlanger hospital and the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department are moving forward financially on a number of public health initiatives.
On Wednesday, the Hamilton County Commission voted 8-0 in favor of several items generally described in terms of housekeeping by Commissioner Tim Boyd.
“For the most part, these resolutions are continuations of annual items, through the county, that the county commission is authorized to approve,” Boyd said.
One approved measure calls for the county to commit $230,000 to the Fetal Infant Mortality Review and Community Infant Mortality Reduction services program, which is administered by the health department, for the 2016-2017 fiscal year. It is the same amount committed to the program for the current fiscal year.
Efforts to decrease infant mortality rates have been a “public health victory,” health department spokesman Tom Bodkin said in a phone interview after the county commission meeting.