Two years ago, Rebecca Johnson was still learning the ropes of becoming the new director for the Southeast Kansas Multi-County Health Departments when the COVID-19 pandemic arrived.
The health crisis made for a steep learning curve and thrust the naturally quiet Johnson into the spotlight.
“I’ve told myself throughout this pandemic to try to stay strong, because that’s what our residents need,” Johnson said. “I keep thinking that if I can make it through this, then I can make it through anything.”
Not only were Johnson and her staff tasked with keeping the public safe, they had to do it amid a great deal of pushback from the public. They received threats, vandalism and hateful comments.
Sometimes, they didn’t have all the information they needed. And, oddly, at the same time they were inundated with ever-changing and contradictory information from state and federal health officials.
The stress of the pandemic took its toll on the public health system.
Johnson estimates about 60 out of 105 counties have lost their health department administrators and officers since the pandemic began. Five of the counties surrounding SEKMCHD lost their administrators or health officers.
Her agency covers Allen, Anderson, Bourbon and Woodson counties.
JOHNSON had been on the job for less than a year when the pandemic hit. She was still learning the various regulations, responsibilities and expectations of public health.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment, along with other public health agencies, had prepared for the possibility of a pandemic.
But the reality of COVID-19 “threw many of those plans out the window,” Johnson said.
“We had to start from scratch. We’ve had to learn on the fly, and just try to go with the flow, even when the public would learn new information before it would come to us, like from the governor’s public speeches,” she said.
SEKMCHD staff did their best to keep up. Johnson and her staff attended daily webinars with KDHE to learn the latest information.
Even when a vaccine became available, staff had to deal with the reality that many local residents simply didn’t want it.
The county’s vaccination rate is now 51.21% of residents who have had at least one dose, and 46.45% who are fully vaccinated.
At times, Allen County was among the worst in the state for its high rate of infections and low vaccination rates.
