Leaders within the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) are now in the final stages of transforming the state's WIC program in an effort to create new efficiencies and improve services. They're changes DPH's commissioner labels "vital and necessary" within a program helping 303,000 mothers and children secure the nutrition and counseling they need to grow healthy and succeed.

"On day one of becoming a new department, it was clear WIC required attention," said DPH Commissioner Brenda Fitzgerald, M.D., who immediately began making changes once public health was elevated to departmental status in July 2011.

In the year and a half that followed, a new inspector general, Kenneth Bramlett, and 20 WIC inspectors carried out 883 store inspections which resulted in the disqualification of 93 vendors, many suspected of fraud. More than a dozen individuals have been convicted of fraud, saving taxpayers an estimated $72 million.

With fraud detection measures now in place, along with sweeping legal and policy improvements by DPH General Counsel Sid Barrett, DPH leaders are now focusing internally.

"We've looked at every way to make WIC lean, efficient and as successful as it can be," said Yvette Daniels, DPH's director of health promotion, who oversees WIC (or the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children), among other programs.

In a March 13 meeting with about 65 WIC and department staff, Daniels and others spoke of "transforming" WIC operations by more clearly defining staff roles and implementing a stronger system of checks and balances. The plan -- largely a recommendation from an independent consulting firm hired by the department -- divides WIC staff into four core teams, each with a separate focus: participants, stores, program administration and program integrity.

"This is a very fluid process. Changes won't happen immediately, but over time," Daniels said at the meeting.

Similar to the recent restructuring of DPH human resources, which resulted in a 60 percent reduction in the time it takes to fill a vacant position, each WIC employee will have an opportunity to apply for a position in the new organization. Already, four new senior-level deputy director positions have been posted for hire. Those positions are expected to be filled within weeks and will help shape the next phase of hiring and recruiting, according to Debra Keyes, WIC program director.

"This is still a work in progress, but we feel it important to share with you where we are now," Daniels said. "And, we'll continue to share these updates."

"This is all about making WIC a strong, sound program," Fitzgerald said. "The work we've done already is having a powerful impact."