August 27th, 2019 by WCBC Radio

The Allegany County Health Department has published a database of online inspections of over 400 food service facilities in the County. As part of a County-wide effort to increase transparency and awareness through technology, the new online inspections will give residents instant access to thousands of records and can be searched by business name, permit category, or inspection date.

 

“It is exciting to see technology being used to provide services to the residents of Allegany County,” Commission President Jake Shade said. “The online inspections website took time and effort to build. Now we are one of just a few counties in Maryland with a public tool that anyone can access, easily and for free.”

 

Jenelle Mayer, Allegany County Health Officer said: “This is one of the many projects we have undertaken with the county commissioners in recent years- it was been a great and productive partnership.”

 

Brian Dicken, Director of Environmental Health for the Allegany County Health Department, said, “This has been a long-term priority for us. One of the main goals was to increase transparency with the public.” The Environmental Health division is responsible for enforcing Maryland Food Service Facility Regulations found in the Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR). While the results of these inspections have always been available to the public, they previously had to be physically obtained from the Health Department itself. The new database will save time for both residents and Health Department staff.

 

The database can be found on the Allegany County Health Department’s website at www.health.maryland.gov/allegany by clicking on the “Food Facility Inspections” link on the left-hand side of the page. Or at the following link: https://allegany.envhealth.info/