Butler County Commissioner Kevin Boozel joined his counterparts from six other Western Pennsylvania counties Tuesday afternoon in a meeting to discuss creating a regional department of health.

The discussion grew from the frustration counties experienced trying to get COVID-19 information from the state.

Boozel said it was the first conversation the group has had on the subject, and cautioned that the discussion was only a start.

“It's just preliminary,” Boozel said. “We wanted to look into what it would take to open a DOH.”

Joining him in the virtual meeting were commissioners from Washington, Fayette, Greene, Westmoreland, Beaver and Lawrence counties.

The only action taken was agreeing to meet again in a couple of weeks, even though a meeting date hasn't been set.

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