Couch out, Abels in

Carbon County will have a new health officer as of August 1 following a split vote by the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC) on July 20. 

Dr. Marvin Wayne Couch II, who served as the county health officer for two years, will be replaced by Dr. Duane Abels. The decision to enter into a contract with Abels comes after two meetings—one on June 1 and one on July 6—in which the county commissioners discussed the county health officer position. It also comes as Wyoming begins to see a rise in cases of both the coronavirus (COVID-19) and the delta variant.

On June 1, when Couch’s contract was recommended for renewal by Amanda Brown, nurse manager for Carbon County Public Health, a number of the commissioners raised concerns brought to them by county residents. The biggest concern, it appeared, was that Couch had left the county in 2016 and resided in Colorado. Indeed, following the issuance of the county-wide mask mandate last year, some signs put up by local businesses included statements about Couch’s residence.

On November 23, 2020—just five days after the county-wide mask mandate had been issued by Couch—the Carbon County Republican Party Executive Committee sent a letter to the BOCCC seeking the mandate be “immediately withdrawn”. The letter further discussed the possibility of requesting Couch’s voluntary resignation or removing Couch from the position.

The Washakie County Commissioners did just that and removed their countly health officer, Dr. Ed Zimmerman in November 2020. Zimmerman, who lives in Rawlins and works at Memorial Hospital of Carbon County (MHCC), appeared in several social media livestreams with Abels—who is also employed by MHCC—early in the pandemic.

Nurse Jacquelin Wells, who served as the public information officer for the bulk of the pandemic from 2020 into 2021, testified on June 1 to verbal abuse levied against public health and Couch.

Following the renewal of the contract with Couch in June 2020, some residents raised concerns about the process and whether the position was advertised. Rather than renewing the contract with Couch for 2021, the BOCCC instead chose to accept proposals from other physicians. 

At the July 6 meeting, Abels provided an application along with Couch and Dr. Susanne Levene. With the commissioners unfamiliar with Levene, the discussion centered on Abels and Couch. The latter’s exodus from Carbon County appeared to be a contributing factor in the commissioners’ eventual decision with Commissioner John Espy praising Abels, saying “he didn’t bail on his community.”

Though the commissioners appeared, mostly, in favor of entering into a contract with Abels on July 6 some questions remained. Those questions included whether Abels’ liability insurance with MHCC would cover him as Carbon County Public Health and if Couch’s medical license could be used during the transition.

Carbon County Clerk Gwynn Bartlett had answers to those questions on July 20. While Brown was not in attendance, Bartlett informed the commissioners she had been in contact with the public health manager.

“She did talk to the CEO (Ken Harman) at the hospital and she was told that the liability is broad enough to cover Dr. Abels as the health officer. That was one of your questions,” said Bartlett. “She told me that Dr. Couch had authorized the use of his license until the transition could be made.”

Bartlett added Brown had contacted the state health officer, Alexia Harrist, about the transition between county health officers. According to Bartlett, Harrist’s office had no concerns about the transition.

A motion was made to enter into a contract with Abels effective August 1, 2021. The motion passed with a vote of 4-1, Commissioner Sue Jones provided the lone dissenting vote.

“I have nothing against him (Abels), personally, and I’m sure that he will be able to do the job. I think that there was a bit too much personal and we need to back up,” said Jones after her vote. “We had job requirements, we had statutes, we had a request for proposal and nothing was unmet in those.”

The next meeting of the Board of Carbon County Commissioners will be at 9 a.m. on August 3 at the Carbon County Courthouse in Rawlins.