Cape County commissioners reappoint Wernsman as county health officer

Cape Girardeau County commissioners reappointed Jane Wernsman as the Cape Girardeau County health officer on Monday.

Wernsman, who is director of the Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center, received a round of applause during Monday’s commission meeting because of her work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It hasn’t been an easy job this year compared to the past,” Presiding Commissioner Clint Tracy said. “Thank you for all you’ve done, and we appreciate you stepping up again to be reappointed.”

Each February, commissioners are required to appoint the director of the public health center as county health officer, according to Missouri revised statute 205.100.

Wernsman told commissioners many of the health center’s service areas saw a decrease in attendance, but explained much of that was because of social-distancing guidelines and limiting the number of appointments. Despite this, one service at the health center didn’t experience much of a decline.

“One service that we did notice stayed steady, and maybe even saw an increase, was our [sexually transmitted disease] clinic,” Wernsman said. “From our understanding, we might have been one of the only health departments around that’s still continuing to provide that service. Something that we tried to do throughout the year was to continue as many of the services as much as possible.”

Wernsman also credited commissioners for their assistance throughout 2020.

“I want to thank the Commission for the support that you’ve given to the health center,” Wernsman said. “The [Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security] funding has allowed us to have contact tracers on staff since June, and really get a handle on case investigation and contact tracing, as well as many other aspects of this and moving forward with vaccinations.”