NOVEMBER - 20218GOVERNMENT CIO OUTLOOKIN MYOPINIONKaryn E. Clark, Director, Division of Public Health, City of WorcesterByHOW LOCAL PUBLIC HEALTH IS MITIGATING THE SPREAD OF COVID-19revent, promote, protect as the public health shield says. This is our creed. It is also our charge for those who live, work, play, and worship in the City of Worcester (population 187,000) and the six surrounding communities we provide public health services to (additional population of 100,000) in the Central MA Regional Public Health Alliance. Local public health is often invisible, but that's how we know we are doing our jobs. Unlike police departments that put up yellow caution tape around a crime scene or a red fire truck that puts out a fire, public health does its work quietly and without fanfare. Often underfunded and misunderstood, public health is responsible for much more than ensuring the food and water we drink is safe and that we live in safe and sanitary conditions. In Massachusetts, local health departments and boards of health are legally responsible to provide food protection, ensure adequate and safe housing, and communicable disease investigation to their residents. Much of our work is about education and compliance, not punishment. Over the past 10 years, our responsibilities have grown exponentially to include an authentic assessment of the community's health using qualitative and quantitative data and evidenced-based approaches to achieving positive health outcomes. Priority areas of focus now include the opioid epidemic, transportation, access to healthy food, access to health care, economic opportunity, mental health, health equity, and racism and discrimination. The truth of the matter is that public health touches everything these days. We are also air traffic control for COVID-19. We are behind the scenes orchestrating a complex response to a pandemic with partners from all sectors of the government at the local, state, and federal levels. In March, I reassigned my team of 24 full-time employees to work exclusively on coronavirus. We had staff embedded at the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) as part of an inter-disciplinary incident command structure to navigate immediate and forecasted needs. Due to the surge in COVID-19 cases, public health assisted with standing up 4 homeless shelters to depopulate the small designated City facility. This required volunteers, food, linens, PPE, supplies, and access to services. PPublic health is responsible for much more than ensuring the food and water we drink is safe and that we live in safe and sanitary conditions
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