CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Nueces County commissioners passed the motion Nov. 29 to begin to separate from the Corpus Christi-Nueces County Public Health District the separation.
The question now: What happens next?
Pct. 4 commissioner Brent Chesney said the county’s decision to separate itself came, in part, from a disagreement in services provided.
"That was what kind of triggered it,” he said. “We had asked for some different changes in the agreement, and they wanted more money. And we started thinking, well, before we go into all that, they didn't like some of the changes we had, we were a little concerned about the increases."
Chesney said that talks were had before the county decided to leave the health district, and that wanting to promote change played a larger role in the decision.
"We had several discussions about the city-county health department,” he said. “About what we, as a county, would want to do differently. Nothing negative at all, it's been a great partnership with the city we appreciate everything they've done."
Public health director Fauzia Khan said her department provides essential resources to those who call our area home.
"The public health district provides a large number of services,” she said. “Last year, we provided clinical services to over 10,000 clients and 25 percent of them were outside of city limits."
Khan said that even though the city received the notice to withdraw just a few days ago, there are already plans in the making.
"Under guidance from the city leadership, the health department team is working closely with community partners so that we can come up with an action plan. . . . that provides innovative and cost-effective services that will benefit our community.”
A planning move the county is also following suit on.
"We intend to have a proposal pretty quickly,” Chesney said. “Probably in January, as to where to go from there. County judge (Connie Scott) and commissioner (Joe A.) Gonzalez have really been taking the lead on this. They are the ones that are going to put forth the presentation. I think they're meeting with the city to talk about transitions."
Khan said that this is only the beginning, and that more conversations are on the way.
"We have a lot of work to do,” she said. “We have to go through and make an inventory of all of our grants. We need to look at jurisdiction for other grants.”
The official date of the separation will be April 2, 2024. After that, the county will be fully responsible for administering services to those outside of Corpus Christi city limits.