The word for 2009 is prevention – protecting your health through prevention. We’re off to a busy start of the year at the Health Department. As you may know, we’ve refocused our efforts for this year on providing the best public health protection we can for you and your family within existing resources. While that means we aren’t able to provide some of the protection we used to, we continue to step up our efforts where we can.This month’s column is a broad overview of what we offer. Stay tuned for future articles to get more detail. Also, be sure to visit our Web site at www.elpasocountyhealth.org.Your local dollars provide 18 percent of our total budget or about $4.63 per-person per year. Here are the public health protections we provide using your county tax dollars:Retail food establishment (RFE) inspections: In Colorado, retail food establishments serve more than 2 million meals each day, according to the Colorado Restaurant Association. In El Paso County, we are required to inspect about 2,700 licensed RFEs, which include restaurants, school cafeterias, hot dog stands, etc. We will work toward meeting the state-required minimum of conducting two detailed, routine inspections of each RFE. Also, in 2009 we hope to offer our restaurant inspections online.Infectious disease tracking, investigation and prevention: So far this year, our epidemiologists, public health nurses and others in our communicable disease staff have investigated six disease outbreaks in our county, including three that are related to food sources. In fact, our own “disease detectives” are participating with their colleagues at the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to investigate the peanut butter recall related to salmonella. Of the 600 salmonella infections reported nationally as of Feb. 10, Colorado has reported 16 infections. Of those, two were reported in El Paso County.Well water testing and septic system inspections: For residents in and around Falcon, it’s important to know we continue to offer well water testing for a fee through our lab and septic system inspections to protect public health.Emergency preparedness: It seems virtually every emergency we can think of – snowstorms, fires, floods or other natural disasters – would have public health components, as would epidemics, of course. Just one example: the tuberculosis contact investigation that the Health Department needed to conduct in Falcon School District 49 in late 2006 that led to the skin testing of more than 200 students and adults associated with two schools. Using local tax dollars and state and federal grants, we collaborate with other community partners to plan, prepare and exercise so we are prepared to protect our community.It’s important to note the Health Department’s funding from the county is required to pay for core public health protection, such as disease investigation and control. But, the majority of the Health Department’s revenue is generated from grants (57 percent). Our state and federal grants and contracts can be used only for purposes designated in the grants or contracts. An example is our Women, Infant, Children (WIC) program. Also important: State law does not allow a majority of the fees we charge to cover all of our costs.Through state and federal grants, we continue to offer public health protection for children and families:
- Supplemental nutrition and education for babies and children to age 5 through the WIC program. In fact, our WIC program serves nearly 15,000 clients per month, and WIC clients pumped about $9 million back into our local economy through food purchases (Oct. 1, 2007 to Sept. 30, 2008).
- Coordination of health care and preventive health care for children with special needs
- Educational and supportive home visits from nurses to new babies and their families
- Tobacco cessation information and referrals through our Tobacco Education and Prevention Program
