Dr. Sisson did her job well

This is not an easy time to be a doctor, let alone a county public health officer. With the worst pandemic that we've ever experienced, COVID-19, and now hazardous bad air during our extended fire season, we rely more than ever on our health professionals. California law requires each county to appoint a health officer, who must be a physician. The Board of Supervisors is required to ensure that the health officer has sufficient authority and resources, and that the organizational structure does not impede the health officer from carrying out their duties, according to California Government Code 3002. Since March, they have given us news we don't want to hear, such as to stay indoors and away from others who are not in our household to keep from catching and spreading COVID-19. The county health officials try to make us understand why state orders tell us to stay indoors because of the dangerous virus with long-lasting effects, and more recently, because of the smoky bad air. But we sometimes haven't been a receptive audience. We make fun of the health officials' advice or we think we can be an exception to their advice. Or even worse, we tell the health officers that they don't know what they're talking about, while they and not us have the medical training and infectious disease education. The biggest blunder made toward our county public health officer Dr. Aimee Sisson, however, was when the Placer County Board of Supervisors stripped Sisson of her responsibilities to keep us safe in June. On June 23, the county supervisors unanimously adopted a resolution to return the authority to terminate the local COVID-19 emergency to them, which was previously delegated to the health officer under the supervisors' March 9 resolution. And on Sept. 8, Placer County's supervisors unanimously voted to end the declaration of the local health emergency regarding COVID-19. The Placer County public information office sent out a press release Sept. 9 saying that Sisson resigned as the Placer County health officer and public health director. The release said that Sisson was highly credited as being a leader in limiting the spread of COVID-19 and protecting the community from the virus during the last seven months. Yet in the press release, Sisson said that the Sept. 8 action by the Placer County Board of Supervisors "made it clear that I can no longer effectively serve in my role as Placer County Health Officer and Public Health Director." Unfortunately, supervisors the last seven months questioned many of Sisson's COVID-19 decisions that were based on facts and dictated by the state Public Health Department. Some of the supervisors tried to micromanage her, although her job required her to follow state policies at all times. Sisson was always a proponent of reopening Placer schools and businesses; she was doing it safely and under state mandates, even when county supervisors and many residents denied that. As for the Placer supervisors who said the local emergency was over on Sept. 8, there were 3,220 confirmed cases in Placer County with 33 patients in the hospital and 12 patients in the ICU that day. As of Sunday, the county's number of cases increased to 3,316 with 31 patients in the hospital and nine patients in ICU. Health experts say that COVID-19 will not be under control until a vaccine is available and that cases are expected to surge this winter. In addition, the Mayo Clinic recently said that COVID-19 symptoms can sometimes persist for months and the virus can damage the lungs, heart and brain, which increases the risk of long-term health problems. So to say that the local emergency is over seems premature. Supervisor Kirk Uhler, who lost his seat in the March 3 election, was quoted Saturday on KCRA 3 as hinting that Placer County will not enforce violations, including those referring to social distancing guidelines and wearing facial coverings. "All I'm saying is the county is not enforcing any of this," Uhler told the reporter Saturday outside a Placer County restaurant Saturday. "If they are not selling alcohol or subject to a state license, they are free to make whatever decision they think is responsible." That Placer County restaurant, by the way, showed customers at the bar within six feet of each other and not wearing facial coverings. A Sept. 10 Lincoln News Messenger request emailed directly to Sisson to speak for 15 minutes during the next few days was denied by the county's Health and Human Services public information office the next morning. The public information officer wrote that "we can't accommodate interview requests." But Sisson always answered our emails, even on weekends and late nights. This email being intercepted and denied by the public information official is disconcerting because there was always transparency under Sisson. Good luck, Dr. Sisson. Many of us will miss your levelheadedness and leadership. You were an asset to Placer County and your resignation is a huge loss to all of us.