Check Kent County Health Department inspections via online portal

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The Kent County Health Department has launched a new online portal to make it easier for the public to find and view inspection reports.

“Previous to the portal, the public would need to submit a Freedom of Information Request, a FOIA request, to actually get that information. We would then have to basically pull the report on our side and send it to them. This kind of cuts us out as a middle man and allows them to just to go in there and look it up on their own,” Rusty Flewelling, supervising sanitarian at the Kent County Health Department, said.

The portal shows routine and follow-up inspections. The documents are added to the portal after they are uploaded by the inspector to the health department’s database.

“Really what we want to do is make it easier for the public, increase transparency and kind of let people know in a more quick format how to find these. You might be going out to dinner tonight and say, ‘Hey, this is a new restaurant. I’d really like to look at that inspection report.’ Rather than do a FOIA request and (have to) wait a day or a couple of days to get that back, you can find it almost instantly at this point,” he said.

To find reports, users can search for specific locations by entering the name, address or municipality. There is also a map feature that allows users to find the location they want.

As the portal rollout continues, the health department has started with restaurants, tattoo shops and public pools. Flewelling said that it plans to expand the database to include well and septic permitting and applications and annual food applications.

“There are a lot of facilities in (the portal). There are some facilities in there that do not have any information. What that means is that, unfortunately, (due to) software limitations, we can’t filter those out. They may be brand new facilities that are still under review and are not open yet. They may be facilities that were applied for and never opened,” Flewelling said.

If you are confused about what you are looking at on the report, there is a Frequently Asked Questions section that breaks down what you need to know. You can also find information on how the inspections are conducted.

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