Delaware County Health Department Virtual Town Hall Meeting

Thank you to Dr. Monica Taylor, Delaware County Council, and the many other panelists for conducting the Public Health Department Virtual Town Hall today. It was very informative and professionally presented. Of course I learned a lot about our Covid-19 status but here are a couple things I did not know: (1) The 4th leading cause of death in the Delaware County, PA, Black population is homicide, over 80 percent of which is by gunshot, whereas homicide is the 19th leading cause of death in the white population. (2) Black babies die 3 times as often as white babies in Delco. These are astounding statistics from the updated 2020 version of the Johns Hopkins study of healthcare in Delco. Below is a slide indicating incidences of mental health disorders, addiction and overdoses, among other ailments, increased in Delco from the 2010 study to the 2020 version. These are all issues that will be addressed in a more focussed manner when the Delaware County Health Department is fully implemented during the next two years.