Public Health Thank You Day
With Thanksgiving just around the corner, there are some special people who deserve our thanks – our City of York public health heroes. In conjunction with Research!America, a nonprofit advocacy alliance representing 125 million Americans, the York City Bureau of Health will be marking Monday, November 19, as Public Health Thank You Day.
All too often we are unfamiliar with our public health professionals who work every day to keep us healthy. I am referring to the City’s staff of public health nurses, outreach workers, health educators, lead technicians and health inspectors as well as the public health nurses at the York State Health Center who provide services to rest of York County. These unsung heroes work to keep restaurants clean and safe to eat in, children immunized, Tuberculosis and other communicable diseases controlled, and our families healthy through research, services and public policy actions such as seat belt and clean indoor air laws.
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Public health workers are on the job each day making sure our health and safety is a top priority. Many times their activities are invisible to the public’s eye. From time to time, however, they become involved publicly in events that require special interventions, such as providing medication to prevent a Pertussis outbreak in a daycare, conducting Tuberculosis screening after an active TB case is discovered in a community organization, and investigating an illness outbreak after an office luncheon including food from a local sandwich shop. In addition, City Health Bureau staff has taken the lead in developing a City Pandemic Influenza Plan that will hopefully prepare the City so that lives may be saved in the event of this serious potential disease outbreak.
Another special thanks goes to Mayor Brenner’s City administration and the five City Council members who recognize the importance of quality public health services for all City residents and who support the Bureau of Health with adequate funding every year. They understand the importance and the need to make public health a high priority of local government.
I ask all the readers of this newspaper to join Research!America and the York City Bureau of Health in thanking these public health heroes for the important work they do.
For more information and to send a e-thank you card to your public health hero, please visit www.publichealththankyouday.org
David L. Hawk, MD, MPH
Director
York City Bureau of Health
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