Suicide Rates Are Growing With Frederick’s Population and Public Funding Can’t Keep Up

by Elizabeth Atwood Comment Closed
By Logan Samuels The Frederick County Board of Health and Mental Hygiene wants to focus on treatment and research for specific health issues, but budgeting for the public health system prevents this. Frederick County Health Officer Dr. Barabara Brookmyer explained that a hot topic issue in Frederick is the suicide rate. For the last 12 years, Frederick County has had a higher suicide death rate than the state. Henry Westray, Jr., the former chair of the Governor’s Commission on Suicide Prevention, said that Governor Martin O’Malley established an executive order to focus on suicide awareness and prevention as a severe health issue in 2009. For three years, the Governor’s Commission on Suicide actively fought to establish services, hotlines, plans, support groups, and advocacy groups for at-risk groups. There are various Maryland based foundations and groups that focus on suicide prevention and intervention like the Mental Health Association of Maryland, the National Alliance on Mental Illness: Maryland and the American Foundation for Suicide: Maryland. O’Malley planned to...
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For Frederick’s Parks, Stable Growth Requires Cooperation

by CMA 303 Comment Closed
By Cameron Rogers Recreational areas like Baker Park delight tourists and residents of Frederick alike, but their operation and maintenance is not without issues. Over the period of time between 2013 and 2015, the city’s anticipated revenue for recreational centers gradually declined from $733,098 to $636,020. However, the expenses accumulated by the department increased at the same time, going from $1.2 million to $1.3 million. Bob Smith, the president of Frederick city’s Parks and Recreation, said that the budget for his department is organized based on considerations like park usage, age of equipment in recreational areas, and the condition of parks. On the declining revenue, he said, “We are careful to keep expenses within the parameters of the approved budget.” According to Alderwoman Donna Kuzemchak, an overall reduction in the budgets of various departments is part of an overall by the city government of Frederick. “We are trying to lower the costs in all the budgets,” she said. She said that the alternative to lowering budgets would...
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Sen. Ronald Young Pushes New Lyme disease Bill After Reports of Multiple False Negative Test Results

by CMA 303 Comment Closed
By Logan Samuels The Senate Finance Committee voted in favor of a bill requiring healthcare providers to notify patients of the possibility that their negative Lyme disease report could be false. On March 17, a bill supported by Senator Ronald Young concerning laboratory tests for Lyme disease came to the floor of the Senate Finance Committee. In light of reports of various false negative Lyme disease test results in the past, this bill asked healthcare providers to notify all of their patients of the chance that their test results might not be accurate. When a medical provider decides there is a need for Lyme disease testing, a patient undergoes an initial blood test. If the results of this test are positive, the patient undergoes a second blood test. What this bill brings to focus is the fact that while many patients test negative for the first test, many of those negative results are false. Due to this common occurrence, many patients are already carrying...
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Frederick City Police Budget Increases Due to Staffing Goals

by CMA 303 Comment Closed
By Stacey Axler The increase in the budget to over $28 million for the year is primarily due to an increase in the “Police Staffing Strategy” which suggests a raise in the salaries and staff members for the department and increases the budget for “police equipment and technology necessary for the core function of police work. At the budget meeting, Ledwell and Fiscal Affairs Manager of the Frederick City Police Heather Reader presented graphs showing that the population of Frederick city has grown steadily over the past few years, which has resulted in an increase of calls for service. According to Ledwell, these statistics suggest that an increase in hiring of officers is necessary.  The budget includes room to “over-hire” five officers to the department.  Currently, the city police staffs around 200 employees. Ledwell hopes the number of employees will increase by five per year to reflect the growing population of Frederick. Besides for officers, the budget also reflects the hiring of all...
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