Public Health

Public health and safety award winners named The 2001 Public Health and Safety Day "Recognition of Excellence" Awards presented at Hagerstown Community College Friday night went to: HEIGHT="6" ALT=" "> Hagerstown Police Department: Officer James Cooper, lifetime achievement award. HEIGHT="6" ALT=" "> Washington County Detention Center: Cpl. Terri Blair, Lesa Bakner, Thomas Lynch, Deputy 1st Class Terrance Taylor, Deputy 1st Class Damian Broussard and Cpl. William Nutter, employee recognition awards.

By TERRY TALBERT Staff Writer A group formed to improve public health in Washington County is one of six in Maryland invited to compete as a partner with the state for national grant money. The Coalition for a Healthier Washington County has been asked to apply for a "Turning Point" grant that would give the group $20,000 a year for three years. Turning Point is supported by the W.K. Kellogg and The Robert Wood Johnson foundations. Funds are earmarked for planning innovative public health protection programs for the 21st century, through state and local partnerships.

Health officials in Berkeley and Morgan counties in the Eastern Panhandle and Hancock County in the state's Northern Panhandle are investigating outbreaks of whooping cough. Berkeley County Health Officer Diana Gaviria told the Berkeley County Council Thursday morning that they have documented 11 confirmed cases of pertussis among preschool and school-age children since November. "Fortunately, it doesn't seem to be showing any antibiotic resistance, it's easily treated," Gaviria said in an interview after the council meeting.

Public health heroes deserve our thanks To the editor: With Thanksgiving around the corner, there are some special people who deserve our thanks - our public health heroes. As a community volunteer organization, the Eastern Panhandle Medical Reserve Corps would like to acknowledge today as Public Health Thank You Day. All too often we are unfamiliar with our public health professionals and volunteers, who devote their careers to keeping us healthy. Our public health professionals, in the three counties of the Eastern Panhandle, are dedicated to programs such as clean and safe food service establishments, clean drinking water, comprehensive children's immunization programs, and most recently, H1N1 pandemic awareness and immunization clinics.

Editor's note: This is part five of an occasional series explaining the committees on which state lawmakers from Washington County serve in the Maryland General Assembly. Committee name: Health & Government Operations Washington County representative: Del. Richard B. Weldon Jr., R-Frederick/Washington Committee's purpose: "HGO is charged with approving all legislation related to health care, from health facility regulations to health-care practitioner regulation.

Someone will eventually get around to protecting citizens in the Boonsboro area from the effects of contaminated well water, but probably not before Washington County's elected officials get finished another round of pass-the-buck politics. Local officials should address this quickly. If local history is a reliable guide, if it's left up to the state, the solution will be more complicated - and expensive. On Tuesday the Washington County Health department told the County Commissioners that wells along the Old National Pike in Boonsboro are contaminated with fecal coliform, which could cause serious diseases.

SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. - U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety and the Discover the Real West Virginia Foundation will co-host a two-day Homeland security forum next month in the Eastern Panhandle. The event will be held at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown on Nov. 9 and 10. Emergency responders, hospital administrators, physicians, public health workers, business and manufacturing representatives, law enforcement, local government leaders, educators, military and public safety officials will mix with federal officials and security experts from the private sector to discuss a variety of security issues.

Someone will soon get around to protect citizens in the Boonsboro area from the effects of contaminated well water, but probably not before Washington County's elected officials get finished another round of pass-the-buck politics. Local officials should address this quickly. If local history is a reliable guide, if it's left up the state, the solution will be more complicated - and expensive. On Tuesday the Washington County Health department told the County Commissioners that wells along the Old National Pike in Boonsboro are contaminated with fecal coliform, which could cause serious diseases.

Editor's note: This is part six of an occasional series explaining the committees on which state lawmakers from Washington County serve in the Maryland General Assembly. Committee name: Health & Government Operations Washington County representative: Del. John P. Donoghue, D-Washington Committee's purpose: "The Health and Government Operations Committee oversees the delivery and financing of health care services and regulates health care facilities such as hospitals, nursing homes, the Shock Trauma System, health professions, and public health programs in the State of Maryland," he wrote.

WASHINGTON COUNTY-For years, Earl Stoner, Washington County's new health officer, ran himself into peak shape. As a Hagerstown Junior College student, he was an All-American runner and a national champion at 1,500 meters in 1988. He was part of an all-star squad that competed in Europe two years later. In his first marathon, he qualified for the Olympic trials - a feat that running stalwart Mike Spinnler compared to reaching baseball's Major Leagues. Stoner, 38, who is married and has three children, stopped running competitively in 1996, shortly after the Olympic trials, when his oldest son was born.

Washington County Health Department will recognize National Public Health Week, which runs Monday, April 1,  through Sunday, April 7. This year's theme is "Public Health is ROI (return on investment): Save Lives, Save Money. " The idea is that supporting evidence-based public health programs will result in healthier communities and reduce cost in treating diseases. For more information, contact Rod MacRae at 240-313-3250.

Washington County is considering an ordinance requiring consistent addresses and clear road names, helping crews responding to 911 emergencies. Planning Director Stephen T. Goodrich told the Washington County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday that the ordinance would codify a long-standing policy. The draft ordinance says new road names would have to be “easy to pronounce and spell.” A private road with “more than 3 addressable structures or developable lots” would be required to have a name.

Maryland officials will hold a meeting Monday morning at Hagerstown Community College to discuss natural gas production from Marcellus Shale - a form of shale found in Washington County and other parts of the northern Appalachian Basin. On June 6, Gov. Martin O'Malley signed an executive order to create the Marcellus Shale Safe Drilling Initiative, which was designed to help state officials determine how to produce gas from Marcellus Shale without risks to public health, safety and the environment.

Health officials in Berkeley and Morgan counties in the Eastern Panhandle and Hancock County in the state's Northern Panhandle are investigating outbreaks of whooping cough. Berkeley County Health Officer Diana Gaviria told the Berkeley County Council Thursday morning that they have documented 11 confirmed cases of pertussis among preschool and school-age children since November. "Fortunately, it doesn't seem to be showing any antibiotic resistance, it's easily treated," Gaviria said in an interview after the council meeting.

For some time, the Washington Post has published a series of stories with the theme of “Five Myths About,” featuring subjects such as millionaires, scientists or athletes. Why there are always five myths is a mystery, but I will retain that number, although conservatives have other well-known myths. One reliable myth is that “government cannot create jobs.” It is strange that no one in the audience challenges a conservative orator when such a patently spurious statement is made.

We recall, perhaps even with some perverse fondness, the Iraqi Minister of Information, whose job before the regime was toppled was to tell one and all how well the war was going. And those with a longer memory will recall the administration of the late Maryland Gov. William Donald Schaefer, who muzzled State House employees to the point of black comedy, when public health officials were afraid to even discuss public health alerts. So when the Washington County Commissioners announced this month that from now on, with limited exceptions, county employees will only be able to speak to the press through a new communications officer, local media could be excused for reacting with an arched eyebrow.

Public health heroes deserve our thanks To the editor: With Thanksgiving around the corner, there are some special people who deserve our thanks - our public health heroes. As a community volunteer organization, the Eastern Panhandle Medical Reserve Corps would like to acknowledge today as Public Health Thank You Day. All too often we are unfamiliar with our public health professionals and volunteers, who devote their careers to keeping us healthy. Our public health professionals, in the three counties of the Eastern Panhandle, are dedicated to programs such as clean and safe food service establishments, clean drinking water, comprehensive children's immunization programs, and most recently, H1N1 pandemic awareness and immunization clinics.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- Opponents of tougher restrictions on smoking in public and work places dominated a public hearing Thursday evening at Hedgesville High School about the proposal. Among about 130 people who attended the forum on the proposed clean indoor air regulation revisions being considered by the Berkeley County Board of Health, only two people spoke in favor of the changes. More than 15 spoke against the changes prompting sustained applause practically every time by most of the people seated in the school's auditorium.

Public Health Week is April 6-12 and the theme for 2009 is "Building the Foundation for a Healthy America. " What is public health and why celebrate Public Health Week? Although most people are familiar with medical care through their experiences at a hospital or doctor's office, public health is largely invisible to the average person. To celebrate Public Health Week, the Washington County Health Department will sponsor a health fair on Saturday, April 4 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 1302 Pennsylvania Ave. (between North High and Western Maryland Center)

So it costs $60 to fill up the tank, you're struggling with your credit cards and your job might evaporate any day now. You feel stressed, anxious and blue -- all a recipe for poor health, right? So you would think. But some researchers say that public health actually tends to improve during a recession. "When times are bad, mortality rates fall and most measures of physical health improve," says Christopher Ruhm, an economics professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.