Virtual Inspections in Response to Covid-19

About the Program

Category: Health (Best in Category)

Year: 2021

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting Arizona Governor’s Executive Orders, Maricopa County Environmental Services Department (MCESD) initiated an alternative method to conduct routine health inspections at healthcare facilities and ensured our state delegation for inspections was met. To limit exposure and contact with others during this time, we developed a virtual inspection process. The primary objective of the virtual inspection process was keeping our employees, food service staff, and healthcare residents safe during the pandemic. The process was developed out of a necessity to fill the void of onsite routine, unannounced inspections and was not intended as a replacement. To date, we have conducted 2085 virtual inspections at our healthcare facilities and have expanded their use where social distancing challenges may exist, such as mobile food trucks, plan review inspections, complaint responses, and re-inspections. Implementing a new process such as this required training of both staff and operators resulting in improved overall communication while ensuring food safety practices remained in compliance at facilities that serve the most vulnerable.