[DEC. 7, 2005]
Numerous
Logan County representatives gathered at the Logan County Health
Department to meet Dr. Eric Whitaker, director of the Illinois
Department of Public Health, who visited the local department this
week.
Whitaker was accompanied by other state health officials: Tom
Schafer, chief of communications; George Rudis, liaison with local
health departments; and Fred Uhlig, Peoria regional health officer.
Local representatives present were Terry and Patti Storer of the
Logan County Emergency Management Agency; Woody Hester, chief
executive officer of Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital; Kristi
Lessen of the Healthy Communities Partnership; Gene Frioli of Logan
Mason Mental Health; and Bob Farmer and Pat O'Neill of the Logan
County Board; along with local health department employees.
Pictured (left to right) are Bob Farmer, Dr. Whitaker and Pat
O'Neill.
Pictured (left to right) are George Rudis of the Illinois Department
of Public Health; Margie Harris, director of nursing; Eric Whitaker,
director of the Department of Public Health; and Mark Hilliard,
administrator of the local health department.
Mark Hilliard, administrator of the local health department, took
the guests on a tour through the facilities and thanked Whitaker for
technical and financial support from the state for the past 35
years. The Illinois Department of Public Health is one of the local
health department's primary funders, funding programs including the
Illinois Breast and Cervical Cancer Program, Rural Partnership,
vision and hearing screenings, dental sealant program,
immunizations, environmental health, bioterrorism and emergency
preparedness, asthma assistance, Heart Smart for Teens, and the
tobacco programs.
In Whitaker's address to the community, he focused on his
initiative of "Improving Public Health One Community at a Time" and
discussed three strategic priorities of the state's health
department: increasing bioterrorism and emergency preparedness;
eliminating health disparities evident in race, ethnicity, women's
health and rural communities; and protecting patient safety in
hospitals, nursing homes and other health care facilities.
Whitaker urged community members to get involved in the promotion
of the Health Care Justice Act, which strives to provide affordable
health insurance to all Illinois citizens, and the State Health
Improvement Plan, which is a data-based plan to provide resources
where they are most needed.
In the question-and-answer session following Whitaker's address,
it was noted that funding for the Federal Preventative Health
Services Block and Rural Health grants may be in jeopardy -- this
issue will be addressed by the legislature -- and federal funds for
health programs are on the decline. Gov. Blagojevich has been a
strong supporter of health issues, however, and as a result the
Department of Public Health budget has not suffered.
