Health Department | Page 2

Healthy People. Healthy Choices. Healthy Lake County. Annual Report Fiscal Year 2013 Welcome to the LCHD/CHC fiscal year 2013 annual report. Several transitions in leadership took place this year. The Department now has a new Executive Director, Board of Health President, and Governing Council Chair. Congratulations are extended to outgoing Board of Health President Michael Waxman, outgoing Governing Council Chair Eula Crawford and former Executive Director Irene Pierce who all brought the Health Department to new levels of achievement under their leadership. Our 2013 accomplishments primarily fall under three themes: collaborating with local partners, meeting residents’ needs and improving program efficiency. This Tony Beltran year’s annual report is structured in accordance with these categories. One of our key accomplishments this year was the completion of our 2013-2016 Strategic Plan. This plan focuses on what our organization will do towards addressing priority issues that were articulated for Lake County through a health improvement planning process. The process placed an emphasis on a communitydriven, community-owned approach in which the community takes responsibility for its own health. Over the next few years we will be working with multiple community partners toward the goal to achieve the highest level of health for all in Lake County. The Affordable Care Act made it possible for the Health Department to make significant progress in increasing access to care for numerous Lake County residents. We received more than $1 million in grants to spearhead a countywide initiative, called Enroll Lake County!, which brought together 27 community-based organizations, faith and civic groups, library networks, schools, hospitals and primary care providers. Within the first few months of the program, navigators from these organizations educated and enrolled thousands of residents into healthcare coverage. The initiative will continue through 2014. We made significant progress toward helping residents with severe mental illness. Our Williams Consent Decree program in particular has made it possible for patients to live more independently in the community and be engaged in skills training and other activities with the ongoing support of mental health professionals. While you may not always see what we are doing, we are constantly working behind the scenes to make Lake County healthier. Our communicable disease program staff investigated 37 illness outbreaks this year, including outbreaks of norovirus, influenza, pertussis, salmonella, cyclospora, chicken pox and scabies. As a preventive measure, staff provided disease prevention information to the facilities where the occurrences took place. We are proud to be among the top 6 percent of 2,532 local health departments defined by size of population served, financing and workforce. We are especially grateful to the Lake County Board for its continued leadership and support. Sincerely, Chief Timothy Sashko President Lake County Board of Health 2 Robert Tarter Chair Lake County Community Health Center Governing Council Tony Beltran Executive Director Lake County Health Department/ Community Health Center Lake County Health Department and Community Health Center 2013 Annual Report