ADAMS COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) — The Adams County Health Department will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday morning for their new center.

The event was at 9 a.m. and acted as a commemoration of the opening of the department. The department actually launched on Jan. 1 and they have been serving the public since then.

Adams County Board of Commissioners, board of health members, local elected officials, health department and Adams County employees were in attendance as well as members of the public leaving standing room only.

They hired 160 new employees, many of them coming from the Tri-County Health Department.

Adams County created its own health department after Tri-County Health dissolved due to disagreements over pandemic policy. The Adams County Department will service 520,000 residents.

They will have 30 different programs among different divisions focusing on: health nursing, nutrition & family, environmental, health equity and strategic initiatives, epidemiology and data science and vital records program.   

Several of their priorities is increasing online communication and multi-lingual messaging. as well as community engagement of what the needs of the public are.

The director of the health department, Kelly Weidenbach, said overall work will not be much different from Tri-County Health but the services will be tailored to the community.

Noel Bernal the County Manager said a health department is more efficient when it comes to service and communications.

“It’s hard to really share how effective public health is when it’s closest to the people,” Bernal said.

The main office is at the Adams County Government Center with locations in Brighton, Commerce City, Westminster, & North Broadway.