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July 2, 2012- In This Issue

DPH Celebrates 1st Anniversary

DPH Commmissioner Brenda Fitzerald, M.D.

When House Bill 214 was presented to the Georgia General Assembly by Rep. Mickey Channell of Greensboro in February of 2011 and signed into law by Gov. Nathan Deal in May of the same year, we in public health had no idea of the total impact of the law. We did know we had an opportunity to make things better and a challenge to improve the health and safety of Georgians. We were encouraged by the support of Sen. Renee Unterman, Sen. Greg Goggans, Rep. Butch Parrish, Rep. Sharon Cooper and the many others who believed we could do it.

First, we needed to establish a new stand-alone agency with only existing funding. We've done that.

Then, we needed to improve and streamline control of the funding from our many federal partners. We're doing that.

Then, we needed to clarify and streamline the funding to our many county partners. We're well on the way.

Strides in Public Health

DPH launched Georgia SHAPE, Gov. Deal's statewide program merging governmental, philanthropic and academic and business communities to address childhood obesity.

We are just one year into the new Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) and we have already seen incredible progress. The accomplishments the department has made are numerous and we wanted to highlight just a few that illustrate the important work that is taking place to build a healthier Georgia.

DPH reduced the Georgia's AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) wait list by 70 percent, giving more people access to the drug treatment that is a major factor in preventing infected people from developing the full-scale disease.

Infant mortality in Georgia has decreased from 8.1 per 1,000 live births on 2006 to 6.3 per 1,000 live births in 2012. DPH created initiatives to address infant mortality in Georgia, starting with an infant mortality task force that will strengthen partnerships with the private sector, including the pediatric community and the Georgia Hospital Association. This task force will create a public health perinatal community plan with measurable outcomes and formulate a funding plan to undergird existing infant mortality efforts and strengthen and/or expand public health initiatives. Numerous targeted interventions are in place to continue to decrease these numbers.

Public Health by the Numbers

"We protect lives" is the Georgia Department of Public Health's motto, but it is astonishing just how many lives we impact when the numbers are broken down.

As the Department of Public Health celebrates one year as a standalone agency, let's take a look at some of the past year's accomplishments.

Health Promotion and Disease Prevention provided 2,800 cancer treatments to more than 300 uninsured cancer patients. It also conducted almost 72,000 Pap tests and more than 17,000 mammograms and clinical breast examinations to uninsured and underinsured women.

DPH Employees Reach Milestones in Faithful Service to Georgia

South Health District's Elsie C. Napier, MSN, APRN-BC is celebrating 30 years of public service as a state of Georgia employee. In her 30 years, she received the Al Dohany Award for Community Service, presented by the Georgia Public Health Association in 2006.

As the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) reached and crossed over its one year anniversary on July 1, 2012, Commissioner Brenda Fitzgerald, M.D., the Board of Directors, the Executive Leadership Team, 1,433 State employees and 6,069 county employees stand ready to face opportunities and challenges in public health.

PHWEEK wants to salute and recognize those employees who have remained dedicated to public health and reached the milestone of 5 years to 30 years during the current fiscal year. We congratulate and thank them for their steadfast commitment to DPH's mission to prevent disease, injury, and disability; promote health and well being; and prepare for and respond to disasters in Georgia.

Established by the Georgia General Assembly to recognize state employees, the Faithful Service Awards Program recognizes approximately 13,000 state employees annually for their service. Awarded in five year increments, the Faithful Service Award begins with recognition at the five year mark.

Awards and Recognition

The Ready Georgia mobile app won award at Winter/Spring Web Health Awards.

The first full year of the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) as its own, standalone agency was filled with hard-earned awards and recognition. PHWEEK provides a look back at the many of the honors DPH received this year.

The Ready Georgia mobile application created by the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) and the Georgia Emergency Management Agency were awarded Silver in the 2012 Winter/Spring Web Health Awards Mobile Application: Location-Based Resource category.
Nurses across the state were honored with the Public Health Nursing Practice Excellence Award
Injury prevention employees were recognized with Buckle Up, America! Awards. The Buckle Up, America! Awards recognize individuals, agencies, community and civic groups who work to reduce injuries and prevent fatalities in Georgia through involvement with traffic safety, seat belt and child safety seat awareness initiatives.
Shaun Brand, environmental health manager for both the Chattooga and Dade county health departments in northwest Georgia, was honored at the 2012 Georgia Public Health Association annual meeting. Brand received the association's Environmentalist of the Year award in recognition of his work developing innovative training programs and materials to help the Georgia Department of Public Health's environmental health office and environmental health staff in the state's county health departments transition from an old-fashioned, tedious paper-based reporting system to a new, real-time digital system designed to improve service and efficiency.

Districts Make Significant Impact on the of Health of Their Communities

Cobb & Douglas Public Health National Association of City & County Health Officials (NACCHO) Model Practice submissions were selected as promising and model practices.

Amazing things are happening in public health across the state. From corner to corner in Georgia, districts are achieving impressive accomplishments of which all of the Department of Public Health should be proud. PHWEEK reached out to the districts to share their top accomplishments from the year and the responses flowed in. Here is just a sampling of the great work that happened this year across Georgia:

1-1 Northwest Health District

Twelve of the 16 public school districts in the Northwest Health District have adopted and implemented the CDC's 100% Tobacco Free Campus School Policy. All hospital's in the district now have a 100% Tobacco Free Campus Policy, and seven of the 10 county boards of health have adopted a 100% Tobacco Free Campus Policy for their respective health departments.
The Northwest Health District WIC office established a unique Breastfeeding Peer Counseling (BFPC) program through which they identify current or former breastfeeding WIC clients meeting certain criteria to work as peer counselors in their county. The program was designed to provide and/or strengthen the often missing or weak support component of the "three legs" to breastfeeding initiation/duration-promotion, education and support. Peer counselors are trained to work in conjunction with the WIC office and WIC staff at the county health departments to promote breastfeeding, educate the public, as well as clients, about the benefits of breastfeeding and market WIC services. The true highlight of the BFPC program is the support peer counselors offer to pregnant and postpartum women. Peer counselors are available to program clients almost 24/7 through in-clinic visits, phone calls or text messaging to provide advice, support and referrals.