This past week, the City of Alliance lost a wonderful friend and totally delightful human being. Dr. Thomas Boyce, a local chiropractor and musician, also served on the Alliance City Board of Health for nearly three decades. He was appointed in 1974 by then mayor James Puckett. At that time, Dr. Boyce said he would "do the best I can." We think he indeed did the best he could and much more. He will be missed.

The Alliance City Health Department will carry on in his absence, doing the best it can also. The Health Department has been in existence since 1872. Randy Flint, Health Commissioner, states that the goal of the Health Department is "healthy people and a healthy community." Most people become familiar with their local Health Department when they need a birth or death certificate. But the Health Department does much, much more. For example:

• Nuisance control – If a condition exists in the community where garbage is piling up, junk cars are abandoned, weeds are growing wildly, and the place is just a general mess, that is within the jurisdiction of the Health Department.
• Condemned Houses – The Health Department has the authority to condemn a property and order its demolition. The Alliance Health Department does about ten of these a year.
• Food Service Inspection and Licensing – In the past, the Health Department was only responsible for the inspection and licensing of places that serve food to the public, whether in a restaurant, vending machine, or at the Carnation Festival. A new state law makes the local Health Department responsible for inspections and labeling in grocery stores also. In the year 2000, the Alliance Health Department licensed 156 food service operations in the city. That’s not counting the vending machines and the temporary operations.
• Environmental Safety in Schools – The Health Department inspects the lighting, restrooms, playgrounds, and other environmental areas of our local schools.
• Swimming Pools – In the year 2000, the Health Department licensed 16 public or semi-public (apartment building, hotel) swimming pools.
• Plan Reviews and Plumbing – The Health Department reviews and approves the kitchen and plumbing aspects of blueprints and drawings for all public buildings, including the new Alliance Schools to be built. They also license plumbing contractors. They also issue permits for the plumbing work to be done and inspect the work after it’s done.
• Tattoo and Body Piercing Businesses – The City of Alliance has 3 tattoo and body piercing businesses. The State of Ohio mandates inspection and licensing of these businesses by the local Health Department.
• Public Health Nursing – Preventive health services has been the focus of the Public Health Nursing program. Programs include; Immunization clinics, well-child clinics, pre-school clinics, sexually transmitted disease clinics, influenza clinics, tuberculin skin testing, WIC program, home visits, lead program, Healthy Start program, Welcome Home visitation program, HIV counseling and testing, car seat programs, and bicycle helmet programs.

The Health Department also records all the vital statistics of the city. For instance, did you know that heart disease was the number one cause of death in the city last year, accounting for 166 deaths? Or that 490 babies were born in Alliance in 2000? For more answers, call the Alliance Health Department at 330-821-7373.