Health Commissioner

In July 2017, the agency was restructured to allow staff to work on teams based on function.  The former Divisions of WIC and Public Health Nursing merged into Health Promotion, and the new entity became the Division of Community Health. By placing dieticians, nurses, planners, educators, epidemiologists, and clerks under one umbrella, we now have a more dynamic flow of information across all disciplines. Staff who monitor health outcomes, for example, now work directly with staff who design interventions; they can now easily collaborate to target groups who could most benefit from programs. Although it may sound like a small shift, the benefits have been great.  We also physically moved 2/3 of the team into renovated shared workspace.

Another physical change was a three-month renovation of clinical areas.  The result is a new environment that is modern, welcoming, and easily accessible.  If you have never been to the agency, I encourage you as a taxpayer to stop in for a visit.  You will be pleased to see the efficient design and the increase in services offered as a result.  Our Health Center model of care continued to develop this past year with the expansion to full-time providers on-site and the addition of two more dental chairs.

From a programmatic standpoint, we had six quality improvement projects that occurred throughout the agency.  Each had a different focus and project team, but all led to changes in how we interact with customers.  There is an entire section of our report this year dedicated to efficiency and innovation. Whoever thought government operations could not be improved has never met the (19) LEAN trained staff at this agency.

As always, I welcome your comments, ideas, or questions.