Public Health

Cora Heffner, second from right, top photo, makes a point during a forum on public health Thursday at the Clark County Extension Office. Listening are, from left, small group facilitator Cara Palmer, Judy Crowe, back to camera; Shawna Thomerson and Len Midden.

Members of the Clark County community will put their heads together Thursday in an all-day effort to assess the public health infrastructure available to local residents. "Public health is not just the health department by any means," said Kristian Wagner, health education coordinator for the Clark County Health Department. "It's really the whole health community, and any organization that has anything to do with the health of the public. " Forum participants will use a question-based tool, devised by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to analyze the availability of 10 essential public health services in Clark County.

A county's planning and zoning commission is considering revising its comprehensive plan. Why not require sidewalks? A county has way more space in its industrial park than it needs for the foreseeable future. Why not build a park or two? A city's recreation board is developing plans for a new park. Why not build walking trails and bicycle paths around and between the ballfields and swimming pools? A group of local investors is planning to build a shopping center with a grocery store as its anchor.

Dear Editor, In his recent letter to the editor in The Advocate-Messenger, James Bauch lamented his loss of free choice and accused Roger Trent of "manipulating" the city commission and "the taxpayers of Boyle County" related to the proposed workplace smoking ordinance. It angers me that anyone would consider Mr. Trent, who tirelessly works to promote the health of our community, as someone who has no right to have a say in this matter. The purpose of public health is to provide a safe environment for the citizens of the commonwealth.

STANFORD - For Dr. Samuel C. Matheny, Lincoln County used to represent hearth and home. Now it represents health and home. Matheny's career mirrors that of more than a few Kentucky doctors. He got his medical degree in Kentucky but then left the state to further his education and pursue greater opportunities to teach medicine and practice it. But a dozen years ago, Matheny came back to Kentucky - first to his university home in Lexington and then to his family home in Lincoln County.

Approaching the beach at Cedar Creek Lake, you hear children laughing and playing in the water. Then you pass a no-swimming sign. "The beach is not safe," said Diane Miller, public health administrator with the Lincoln County Health Department. "People should not be swimming there until the beach is completed. " Yet people regularly go to the beach to swim and sunbathe. The beach is their best swimming hole. The nearest public pool is in Danville. Stanford has a pool, but you have to belong to the country club to use it. Those who gather at the beach this day aren't the country-club type.

The Clark Regional Foundation Board named a former health care executive from North Carolina as its new president. Clark Regional Foundation Board member Ed Mastrean introduced Jen Algire as the new foundation president during a meeting of the Clark County MAPP committee Thursday. She will replace interim president Dudley Taylor, who will continue working with the Foundation as a board member. Algire has previously worked as chief of staff at Premier Healthcare Alliance in North Carolina.

Dr. Ardis Hoven has been appointed president of the American Medical Association. A former member of the medical staff at Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center, Hoven will become the 168th president and only the third female president in the organization's history.  An infectious disease specialist, she cared for patients at McDowell from 2007 to 2010. She is currently the medical director at  Bluegrass Care Clinic in Lexington.  The AMA is the nation's largest physician organization, and its mission is to promote the art and science of medicine for the betterment of the public health, to advance the interests of physicians and their patients, to promote public health, to lobby for legislation favorable to physicians and patients, and to raise money for medical education.

The Clark County Health Department is hosting a community wide assessment of the public health system in Clark County. This is exciting news for our community because this assessment will help improve public health services in our area. The assessment is part of the National Public Health Performance Standards Program (NPHPSP) developed by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and is designed to help local health systems to evaluate its strengths and opportunities for growth.

Dear Editor, Just a few additional words about public health in response to a recent letter to the editor: I feel privileged, not repressed, to live where I don't have to worry about some basics, like disease-free food, water and clean air. I'm glad my children aren't contracting polio, dying of cholera or E. coli from contaminated food or water, thanks to the public health system. These ordinances have not created tyranny, but protect us from things which still cause suffering to many worldwide.

Dr. Ardis Hoven has been appointed president of the American Medical Association. A former member of the medical staff at Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center, Hoven will become the 168th president and only the third female president in the organization's history.  An infectious disease specialist, she cared for patients at McDowell from 2007 to 2010. She is currently the medical director at  Bluegrass Care Clinic in Lexington.  The AMA is the nation's largest physician organization, and its mission is to promote the art and science of medicine for the betterment of the public health, to advance the interests of physicians and their patients, to promote public health, to lobby for legislation favorable to physicians and patients, and to raise money for medical education.

The Clark Regional Foundation Board named a former health care executive from North Carolina as its new president. Clark Regional Foundation Board member Ed Mastrean introduced Jen Algire as the new foundation president during a meeting of the Clark County MAPP committee Thursday. She will replace interim president Dudley Taylor, who will continue working with the Foundation as a board member. Algire has previously worked as chief of staff at Premier Healthcare Alliance in North Carolina.

The Clark County Board of Health is moving forward with plans to assist in a challenge to a Bullitt County court's decision to overturn a smoking ban. According to the Richmond Register, Bullitt Circuit Judge Rodney Burress overturned the ban passed on March 23 after the Bullitt County Fiscal Court and the county's eight cities challenged the health board's authority to enact the ban. The Bullitt County Board of Health is appealing that...

Feb. 19, 1961   A 10-acre farm located on the Athens-Boonesboro Road and owned by Willie and Mary Murphy, was purchased at public auction Saturday by B.L. Woodford for $2,255. Washington (AP) — The federal government gave Kentucky surplus property worth $1,970,228 during the last quarter of 1960. Included were items ranging from school supplies to office materials, all earmarked for education, public health and civil defense, Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare Abraham Ribicoff said Sunday.

Influenza activity increased across the country during the last week of January, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And levels in Kentucky are no exception to the national trend. For the past few weeks, doctors’ offices, hospitals and health departments have been reporting cases of influenza-like illnesses across the state to the Kentucky Department for Public Health. Influenza activity levels in the state are considered “widespread,” the highest level of activity on a scale used by the CDC. The levels include “no activity,” “sporadic,” “local,” “regional” and “widespread.

The Jessamine County Health Department is operating under new leadership as Jennifer Wyatt took the helm Jan. 10. She took over for Nancy Crewe, who went to work for the Madison County Health Department. Wyatt, a Versailles native, brings 17 years of experience to the post. Before joining the JCHD, Wyatt was employed with the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department and with the Kentucky Department for Public Health. Her extensive experience in public health includes leadership in chronic-disease prevention and health promotion programs; community education and outreach; implementing federally funded nutrition programs; policy development; site reviews and audits.

The Medical Reserve Corp (MRC) is an invaluable service in times of natural or man-made disaster and community crisis, by using volunteers to strengthen public health, emergency response and community resiliency.  MRC units are community-based and function as a way to locally organize and utilize volunteers who want to donate their time and expertise to prepare for and respond to emergencies and promote healthy living throughout the year. MRC volunteers supplement existing emergency and public health resources locally and have the option to do so on the state and national level.

Clark County Public Health Director Scott Lockard was recognized recently by his peers in the Kentucky Health Department Association with it’s Trail Blazer Award. The award is given annually to a public health director who has been on the job less than five years and who has demonstrated great leadership, loyalty, devotion and perseverance for the betterment of public health departments, with an impact on comprehensive public health services. “I was very humbled and honored to have been nominated and selected for the Trail Blazer Award,” Lockard said.

David and Evelyn Gander of Danville announce the engagement of their daughter Jennifer Carol Gander to Bryan Dennis Baker, son of Dennis and Kay Baker of Summerville, S.C. Gander is a 2004 graduate of Boyle County High School. A 2007 cum laude graduate of Clemson University, Clemson, S.C., she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biological sciences. She will graduate in August from the University of South Carolina, Columbia, with a Master of Science degree in public health and will begin doctorate of philosophy studies in public health in August at the University of South Carolina.

Health Kentucky, one of the state's largest nonprofit organizations dedicated to helping uninsured Kentuckians, honored some of Kentucky's health care industry leaders at the 2009 Twist and Bid Gala Oct. 24 in Louisville. Since its creation in 1984, Health Kentucky has helped more than 300,000 low-income Kentuckians get the care they need by offering free medical services and prescription medicines through a statewide nonprofit network of health care providers, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies and pharmacies.