County health department won't move into Hurley K-12 school

HURLEY — Security concerns have caused the planned move of the Iron County Health Department to the Hurley K-12 School to be called off.

In a letter to the Daily Globe, school district administrator Chris Patritto explained that while the school district will continue its relationship with the health department, the move won’t take place.

“On Jan. 18, the Hurley School Board granted us (the administration) permission to work out details to see if there was a possibility of the Iron County Health Department leasing space here within the Hurley School. Over the past 10 days, we have been discussing the details with county officials and law enforcement to see if this is a feasible option for us.

“Although having the health department here would bring many positives for the children of Hurley, it is also imperative to consider any negatives to this type of relationship,” Patritto said.

“After thorough discussion with all the parties, we came to an agreement that this move would add on another layer to security that nobody felt comfortable with at this time. Our main priority is to keep our school a safe facility for our students and staff,” he said.

“Moving forward, we still want to keep our conversation with the Health Department moving in a positive direction. We will need to partner with them in a different fashion to bring added services to our students.

“We will continue to explore dental services being offered here at the school, with the support and oversight of Zona Wick and her staff. We want to explore other options to bring some medical services to the school for our students,” Patritto said.

“We still have to be able to see the many possibilities out there for us in order to keep working together. With the quality staff working at the Iron County Health Department, we see our partnership growing and benefitting our students and community,” he concluded.