During its Dec. 15, 2021, meeting, Lehigh County Board of Commissioners heard a first reading of a resolution to create a county department of health.

The motion puts the action on the Jan. 12 agenda for the next regular meeting of the legislative body.

The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic may be credited for the perceived need for a more regional - or at least countywide - health department.

Next will be to seek a certificate of approval from the Pennsylvania secretary of health or for that agency to conduct a special investigation to determine whether the proposed county department of health conforms to state requirements.

This action breathes new life into an idea that died several years ago when a regional health bureau was nearing approval and failed to garner the necessary votes toward the end of the process. That bureau would have served both Northampton and Lehigh counties and would have absorbed the existing health bureaus of Allentown and Bethlehem.

Commissioner Dr. Percy Dougherty was a proponent of the regional plan and is a sponsor of this revised version, a countywide health department.

Dougherty, however, won’t be a Lehigh County commissioner to see this resolution through to success as Dec. 15, 2021, was his last meeting as commissioner. He did not run for re-election.