City-County Health Officer Trisha Gardner stepping down after tenure during coronavirus pandemic

City-County Health Officer Trisha Gardner will be stepping down from her role at CCHD this month, Gardner said during a Board of Health meeting Wednesday.

"It was a difficult decision for me," Gardner said, holding back tears. "I can't say thank you enough to this board for the support, encouragement, expertise and guidance that you all gave."

Gardner said she would be meeting with her leadership team Monday to finalize the transition and name someone as the interim Health Officer.

Gardner took the position in December of 2019, just months before COVID-19 came to Montana on March 11, 2020.

Gardner said Dec. 23 would be her last day in her position and that this would be her last BOH meeting. She said she was accepting a position with the Montana Department of Health and Human Services.

Members of the board commended Gardner's poise in leading the community through the COVID-19 pandemic.

City Commissioner Owen Robinson said it was a pleasure and honor to serve with her.

"Years from now people will ask, 'Who was the public health officer during the pandemic?'" Robinson said. "That'll be a feather in your hat that nobody will ever take take away from you."

Robinson said that the local governing body that was recently formed would make the ultimate decision on Gardner's replacement but that they will be looking for recommendations from the BOH.

The interim local governing body is made up of the three Cascade County Commissioners and Mayor Bob Kelly serving as the ex-officio city representative.

Great Falls Public Schools Superintendent Tom Moore, who also serves on the board, echoed Robinson’s praise of Gardner’s job performance.

“This has been a highly volatile and somewhat political environment to deal with science versus opinion and the public interplay, the political landscape,” Moore said. “My comment to you, Trisha, is that you've handled that environment very, very well.”

Dr. Raymond Geyer, another member of the board, said that Gardner deserved a six-month sabbatical after all the work she put in during the pandemic.

In a statement released after the meeting on Wednesday, Gardner said it was an honor to serve the people of Cascade County.

"The past two years have been a time of tremendous opportunity and challenges for me professionally and personally and I am thankful for all those that supported and guided me throughout," Gardner said in the statement. "I leave CCHD knowing that there is a team of very capable and committed individuals that will continue to work to keep our community healthy and safe.”

COVID-19 Update

At the top of the meeting Gardner provided an update about the spread of COVID-19 in the community.

Gardner said that the average case rate was at 20.2 per 100,000 people and that the positivity rate was now at 10.2%, adding that she’s seen a decrease recently.

She said the hospital has seen a recent decrease in COVID-19 patients, however, she said that Tuesday it “bumped up again to over capacity.” She said the community is seeing an increase in respiratory illnesses, and noted especially Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV).

Gardner said that influenza is spreading in Montana but has not yet been detected in Cascade County.

“It's just a matter of time before influenza hits Cascade County,” Gardner said.

She said between the spread of influenza and the new omicron variant of COVID-19 that the community will likely see a lot of respiratory illnesses.

On Wednesday, the first known case of the omicron variant was detected in the U.S. in California, according to reporting from the Desert Sun. The California and San Francisco Departments of Public Health confirmed that a recent case of COVID-19 was the omicron variant, from a traveler who returned from South Africa on Nov. 22 and was fully vaccinated.

Gardner said one of the key characteristics that they’re noticing in the new variant is its transmissibility.

“So, higher likelihood you're going to pass that on to somebody else,” Gardner said. “Right now, the symptoms aren't necessarily showing to be more severe. However, again, that's one of those that they're looking at.”

Gardner said that they’re seeing this variant in younger, healthier populations.

Gardner said that vaccinations in the state, including the recently eligible population of 5 to 11 year-olds, is at 50% and that in the county it’s gone up by 1% to now 47%.

She said that there hasn’t been a big uptake in vaccinations among 5 to 11 year-olds, with 3% currently vaccinated.

Three COVID-19 deaths in Cascade County this week

City-County Health Department spokesperson Ben Spencer said that there were three COVID-19 deaths in Cascade County this week, all of whom were fully vaccinated men with underlying health conditions. The deaths included two men in their 70s and one in their 60s.

Spencer said that the CCHD completed the COVID-19 death data reconciliation with the State and are reporting consistently. He said the 268th death should appear in the State’s numbers on Thursday or Friday. The state currently reports 267 deaths in the county and 252 active cases.

DPHHS put out a statement Wednesday that they are continuing to conduct ongoing data reconciliation related to death certificates.

The 51 COVID-19 deaths in the state reported on Wednesday occurred over the span of several months in 2021, according to the release.

A total of seven deaths occurred between March and August; eight occurred in September; 27 occurred in October; and nine occurred in November. Counties reporting deaths include: Lake (1), Lewis & Clark (1), Missoula (2), Powell (1), Ravalli (44), and Yellowstone (2).

Spencer also shared the breakdown of COVID-19 cases per age group, which reflected that 20-29 year-olds held the majority of cases at 18.26%.

The state posted 585 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, bringing Montana’s total active confirmed reports to 4,026.

Montana reported 2,722 total deaths and 220 active hospitalizations from the virus, according to the state website covid19.mt.gov.

Nicole Girten is a Government Watchdog Reporter at the Great Falls Tribune. You can email her at ngirten@greatfallstribune.com. To support coverage of Great Falls and Cascade County subscribe to the Tribune by finding the "Subscribe" link at the top of the page.

This article originally appeared on Great Falls Tribune: Great Falls, Cascade County health officer Trisha Gardner to step down