The Nicholas County Board of Health is organized by the Nicholas County Commission in accordance with W. Va. Code § 16 – 2. The Board of Health acts independently of the County Commission to set health policy for Nicholas County. Members are selected for five-year terms from county residents in a manner to prevent bias due to magisterial district, political affiliation and occupation.
The Board of Health provides mandated services through it’s functional agency, Nicholas County Health Department, including:
- Community Health Promotion – Assessing community health status and needs, monitoring health indicators, mobilizing community around health needs, and providing health education.
- Environmental Health Sanitation – Administering public health laws regarding drinking water, clean air, sewage, food, child care centers, recreational water facilities and general sanitation. Promoting a clean, safe environment.
- Communicable Disease Prevention & Control – Providing communicable disease surveillance, case investigation, outbreak investigation, and emergency response to epidemics. Preventing and controlling rabies, sexually-transmitted diseases, vaccine preventable diseases, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and other communicable diseases.
- Disaster Preparedness and Response – Planning for and responding to environmental and biological-based disasters.
These basic public health services are delivered within the context of the core public health functions of assessment, policy development and assurance as defined in by the Ten Essential Public Health Services.
The Nicholas County Board of Health is actively working toward improving service delivery by voluntary adherence to the Public Health Accreditation Board standards. Accreditation is a process of continuous quality improvement and administrative accountability designed to allow a public health agency to delivery standardized services for all county residents. The Board of Health has not yet achieved the honor of accreditation, but is striving to do so for the welfare of the citizens of Nicholas County.
The Board of Health appoints a Local Health Officer, a properly licensed and trained medical doctor or osteopath, to act as the executive director of Nicholas County Health Department through supervision of agency services, employees and facilities. The Local Health Officer serves as a non-voting member and medical advisor for the Board of Health.
The West Virginia Bureau for Public Health Center for Local Health monitors the activities of the Nicholas County Board of Health to ensure proper organization, mandated service delivery, general administration, financial management, facility maintenance and reporting as required in W. Va. 64 C.S.R. 73 Standards for Local Boards of Health.
The Nicholas County Board of Health operates as detailed in it’s bylaws approved in 2012.
Members
ROBIN BROWN (Chair): Family Resource Network Executive Director (July 2016 – June 2026)
CHRISTINA CHAPMAN (Vice Chair): Speech Therapist (July 2018 – June 2023)
LINDA HAYES: Retired Licensed Practical Nurse (July 2015 – June 2025)
TIMOTHY KIRKLAND: Retired Department of Justice (July 2017 – June 2027)
SHAUNA SHAFER: Health Systems Manager for Primary Care with American Cancer Society (February 2020 – June 2024)
DR. ANITA STEWART, DO (Interim Health Officer)
Meetings and Minutes
Nicholas County Board of Health holds meetings in accordance with W. Va. 64 C.S.R. 73.4.2 and W. Va. Code § 6 – 9A.
Meetings are held at 3:00PM located at the Nicholas County Health Department, 1 Stevens Road, Suite 201, Summersville, WV 26651. (Unless posted otherwise)
Public Records
The Nicholas County Board of Health acts as custodian for a variety of public records including: sewage system records, water well records, compliance inspection reports, etc.
Freedom of Information Act Request Form
To request copies of public records, please submit this form to Nicholas County Health Department. It may take up to five days to process requests. Charges of $0.25-$0.75 per page will apply.
Fees
Nicholas County Board of Health supports provided services through fees for permits and services as provided in W. Va. 64 C.S.R. 30 and W. Va. 64 C.S.R. 51.
Patient Privacy
As a health care provider, Nicholas County Board of Health is committed to the confidentiality of all medical records and information within it’s stewardship.
Nicholas County Health Department Notice of Privacy Practices