Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
FARMINGTON, Utah (AP) -- In the event of a health emergency, Davis County health officials will use Mormon stake centers for providing vaccinations or distributing medicines.
County commissioners signed a memorandum of understanding with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during Tuesday's commission meeting.
More than 50 stake centers throughout the county will serve as meeting points for the population of the county, said Richard Ebert Jr., director of temporal affairs for the Utah north area of the church.
"I think this is the first county in the state of Utah with such an agreement," he said.
The agreement alleviates concerns over the possibility of an estimated 280,000 residents converging on two or three vaccination or medication distribution locations, said Lewis Garrett, county health director.
Ronald Garrison, chairman for the county Board of Health, hopes to gain the assistance of churches of other denominations and several public buildings as well.
Garrison estimated that if all the churches in the county were used and there were 200 volunteers per center, the entire population of the county could be vaccinated in six hours.
The move to spread emergency response over a large area came after seeing a failed response in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, he said.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
