LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

It’s been an exciting and productive year with many positive changes happening. One of the changes is the

renaming of our agency from El Paso County Department of Health and Environment to “El Paso County

Public Health.” Our new name is shorter and emphasizes our main focus—public health! El Paso County

Commissioners and the Board of Health set plans in motion to move our agency’s location to accommodate our

staffs’ work in a new, more efficient building. Due to the many challenges we’ve faced in our existing building,

from the heating and cooling system to the old plumbing infrastructure, we are ready and excited for this move

in early fall! We feel more coordination will happen among the many public service tenants, ultimately increasing

efficiency and providing a one-stop area for people to access the important services they need.

One thing that hasn’t changed is our mission—everything we do is still concerned with improving and protecting

the public’s health. We continue to concentrate on securing grant funding and engaging agencies and individuals

who share our mission to carryout work collaboratively that benefits the health and wellness of the entire

community. Our agency has strong alliances with many community partners including for profit, nonprofit and

government agencies. We value those partnerships tremendously, knowing that working with numerous agencies

has a greater impact to create opportunities for the people of El Paso County to improve quality of life and

wellness, helping to prevent disease and disabilities.

Please take the time to read and learn about some of the work we’ve accomplished in 2010, such as increasing

the number of retail food establishments inspections, offering inspection reports online, community health status

assessment progress, recognitions received, increased health risks and numbers of disease outbreak investigations.

For expanded information and updates please visit our website at www.elpasocountyhealth.org.

Looking ahead to 2011 and beyond, we will continue to strengthen partnerships; and as always, you have my

commitment and dedication towards promoting and protecting public health and environmental quality in our

shared community.

Sincerely,

Kandi Buckland, R.N., M.P.A - Executive Director

2010 AnnuAl RepoRt El Paso County PubliC HEaltH

AssEssIng COMMUnITy HEALTH In EL PAsO COUnTy

Identifying health issues and aligning resources within our community to affect meaningful change for improved health is a responsibility we take seriously. In 2010, we participated as one of five pilot sites around the state to assist the Colorado Department of

Public Health and Environment to establish key health indicators, which is an essential part of the Community Health Status Assessment (CHSA) process. Future efforts involve evaluating credible data and then digging deeper to define “why” health behaviors and diseases are occurring in our community. Revealing strengths, weaknesses and capacity to impact health allows us to collaborate strategically to implement action steps for positive change.

The culmination of the CHSA is developing a Public Health Improvement Plan, done in partnership with organizations sharing our mission and goals to work collaboratively and align resources towards making our citizens healthier. These fundamental partnerships are what makes up the public health system—agencies sharing the responsibility to create a high-level of wellness in our community. As part of being conscientious with the funding we receive, we believe in the power of community partnerships to experience greater impacts. Ongoing monitoring and evaluation efforts will occur to assure progress is being made to educate, change unsafe health behaviors and improve health outcomes. The CHSA should be completed later in 2011.

“We want to prevent health issues before they occur, creating a high-level of wellness in our community using evidenced-based, tried and true strategies.” - Kandi Buckland, R.N., M.P.A. Executive Director

“We are paving the way with tools in epidemiology, helping many other local public health agencies in Colorado build a Community Health Status Assessment framework.” - Dr. Bernadette Albanese, M.D., M.P.H. Medical Director

Public Health organized a Heathly Babies Fair for parents and caregivers on Sept. 25, 2010. Public Health partnered with 25 community agencies and together served more than 700 people by providing demonstrations and information about how to keep babies and children safe and healthy. This event emphasized the importance of safe sleep education including Sudden Infant Death Syndrome prevention. This effort was grant funded and space for the fair was donated by The Citadel Shopping Center.

kEEPIng bAbIEs sAFE & HEALTHy

REstauRant insPECtions onlinE In 2010, retail food establishment inspections were made available online at www.elpasocountyhealth.org, proving to be highly popular and attracting thousands of unique visitors to the website.

elpasocountyhealth.org

El Paso County Public Health 301 South Union Blvd., Colorado Springs, CO 80910(719) 578-3199 • elpasocountyhealth.orgHours: M-F. 7:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

InFeCtIouS DISeASe ContRol AnD pReVentIonIll Persons from Outbreaks 742

Number of Infectious Disease Cases Reported 661

Reported Outbreaks 24

Tuberculosis—Active TB Cases 8

Tuberculosis—Case Referrals 119

Tuberculosis—Latent TB Cases 166

Tuberculosis—TB Skin Tests Completed 1055

HeAltH AnD enVIRonMentAl SeRVICeSAccess to Health Care Assistance Clients 576

Body Art Establishments—Inspections 58

Breast and Cervical Cancer Screenings 831

Cardiovascular Risk Reduction Screenings 298

Child Care Center Inspections 206

Coordinated Care for Children with Special Needs 1,062

HIV Tests Performed 532

Immunizations Provided 13,410

Microbiology Tests for Public Water System 4,568

Onsite Waste Water—Inspections 623

Onsite Waste Water—Permits Issued 289

Private Well Water Tests 1,233

Reproductive Health Visits 5,731

Retail Food Establishments—Inspections 4,126

Retail Food Establishments—Plan Reviews 148

Vital Statistics—Birth Certificates Issued 20,041

Vital Statistics—Death Certificates Issued 27,651

WIC Food Vouchers Used in Community $8,787,673

WIC Program Average Monthly Caseload 15,021

HeAltH pRoMotIon - eDuCAtInG peopleChild Care Provider Education 136

Faith Based Health Outreach 2,800

Fetal, Infant, Child Death Reviews 62

Food Safety Education 243

Nurse Family Partnership Visits 4,070

Shaken Baby and SIDS Prevention 439

Tobacco Prevention 27,000

T.V. / Print Media Stories—Estimated 294

MIssIOn AnD 2010 sTATIsTICs AT A gLAnCE: Individuals Served and Activities

MIssIOnOur mission is to promote and protect public health and environmental quality in the community through people, prevention and partnerships.

El Paso County Public Health was established in 1872 as a City Health Department, and then became an organized County Public Health Agency in 1939. Our Public Health agency serves all residents and visitors of El Paso County which includes the city of Colorado Springs, Manitou Springs, the town of Calhan, Fountain, Monument, Palmer Lake, and Ramah. Public Health is defined by the Institute of Medicine as, “fulfilling society’s interest in assuring the conditions in which people can be healthy.” Programs are targeted toward the general population and specific high-risk groups to aid in making healthy choices, and provide interventions to prevent disease spread.

gOVERnAnCE El Paso County Public Health is governed by a nine member Board of Health. Members are appointed by the El Paso County Board of Commissioners for five-year terms. The Board of Health governs the agency through the establishment of policy, approval of budgets and appointment of the executive director.

2010 bOARD OF HEALTHJohn Suits, PresidentC.J. Moore, Vice PresidentHoward Brooks, MemberDr. John Burrington, MemberSallie Clark, MemberAmy Lathen, MemberRandy Purvis, MemberMarc A. Snyder, MemberTerry Thatcher, Member

2010 ACHIEVEMEnTs AnD RECOgnITIOn: Public Health Receives National Award

• The National Association of County and City Health Officials gave El Paso County Public Health a Model Practice Award in Public Health Communications for innovation in combining a communicable disease investigation with social media outreach, to help meet the goal of protecting and saving lives when time is critical.

• Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) presented its Award of Excellence to our agency for the Refugee Preventative Health Program, which is a combined effort among Peak Vista and Lutheran Family Services. This program is recognized as a “…highly creative and successful effort in implementing one of the most efficient and effective refugee health screening, referral and follow-up care programs in Colorado.”

• For the second year in a row the Vital Records Office scored 100 percent on all three audits conducted by CDPHE and were presented a trophy and certificate for the Perfection Club. Only 19 agencies in the state received this award.

• Our agency’s Public Health Lab successfully completed an inspection by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and is registered as a member of the Laboratory Response Network (LRN). In this role, the laboratory would serve as a regional testing lab (one of three in Colorado) that has the authority and expertise to conduct testing and sample processing in the event of a microbiological or chemical bioterrorism threat.

Due to the increased threat of skunk rabies in El Paso County, Public Health organized and led a mass pet rabies vaccination clinic in April 2010. Our main goal was to raise awareness by reminding pet owners of the importance of vaccination to protect their families and pets from rabies. With the leadership of El Paso County Commissioner Amy Lathen, Public Health secured grant funding and partnered with the Falcon Big R, the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region, and volunteer veterinarians from the Colorado Springs Area Veterinary Society to vaccinate nearly 400 dogs and cats within four hours.

Pet owners and clinic sponsors braved strong winds, blowing snow and cold temperatures to participate in this event, with conditions being so extreme that weeks of planning and preparation had to be revised on the fly. But those attending exercised patience and were

grateful for the services provided. Promoting the event also drew substantial media attention, which greatly enhanced rabies prevention awareness in our community.

Public Health’s message remains the same —skunk rabies poses a threat to under and unvaccinated pets and livestock, because the chances are higher that unprotected animals will get infected and die after exposure (such as being bitten by a rabid skunk). Rabies is almost always fatal once symptoms begin. Pets that get rabies can bring this fatal disease into the home and be a danger to family or friends.

RAbIEs VACCInATIOn EVEnT

PUbLIC HEALTH 2010: Total Revenue $15,564,072

• Keep rabies vaccinations up to date for your pets and livestock through a licensed veterinarian.

• Do not feed or touch wild or stray animals.

• Do not leave pet food outside.

• Keep trash containers tightly covered.

PREVEnT RAbIEs

*unaudited

nATIOnAL ACCREDITATIOn

El Paso County Public Health continues preparation efforts to apply for national accreditation from the Public Health Accreditation Board. The goal of national accreditation for our agency is to improve and protect the health of the community by advancing our quality and performance. Accreditation is based on standards that we can put into practice to ensure we are providing the best services possible to keep communities safe and healthy in El Paso County.