President's Letter, April 1999
I am writing this on the same day that I met with Ron
Ross, Director of the Department of Services in NHHSS.
Besides getting acquainted, we discussed the role of
public health within NHHSS, and we discussed some of
the new appointments and plans for the future. As
with my meeting with Dr. Raymond, Chief Medical
Officer, I was impressed with both Mr. Ross and Dr.
Raymond's candor and their willingness to listen to
NPHA's concerns. I hope that we will continue to stay
in communication with each other as we all endeavor to
improve the health of all Nebraskans.
For those of you who haven't heard yet, I was
appointed by Governor Johanns to the Excellence in
Healthcare Council. The Unicameral is still having
second thoughts about the Public Health Trust Fund and
at this point they are going to review the Governor's
appointments and probably conduct an interim study on
the trust fund. We must all remain vigilant in
order to maintain the integrity of the trust fund.
Please send me your email address so we can keep you
posted of further developments on this issue. Email
me at: dcorbin3@yahoo.com. If the public health
community cannot rally and unite around this issue,
then public health in our state is in jeopardy.
It iwas disappointing to see LB 505 voted down by a
single vote. We, of course, will not give up on this
bill to increase tobacco taxes and to commit a large
portion of these funds to tobacco control issues.
Some of us can't help but think, "if only we could
have done a little bit more" in our phone calls,
letters and emails, "then maybe the bill would already
be on its way to become law." But we must also realize
that if all of those in the state had not done what we
did then we would not have even had a close vote.
Please contact your senator and express your views
about LB 505.
Our National Public Health Week campaign funded by
Colgate-Palmolive, went very well. Close to 2000
children in child care centers in Columbus, Lincoln
and Omaha were taught how to properly wash their
hands. Each child received a packet from
Colgate-Palmolive complete with a coloring book, a
hand washing chart, a sticker and a sample bottle of
liquid soap. We received television coverage in
Lincoln and Omaha and may still receive coverage in
Columbus as the campaign continues beyond Public
Health Week. Thanks to all of those who helped give
hand washing demonstrations and thanks again to
Tiffany Sutter for coordinating the campaign. I will
try to secure permission to place video clips of the
TV coverage on our web site.
I was troubled by an Omaha World-Herald article which
stated that NHHSS served 200,000 Nebraskans. This
indicates that many people still fail to understand
the "public" part of public health--public health is
for all Nebraskans. I have posted my published letter
to the editor on our web site. In addition, I signed
on to a letter with Dr. Raymond, which was published
in The Red Cloud Chief. I will get that on-line soon,
too.
We will keep reminding NPHA members to nominate
officers for next year and to make nominations for
awards to be given at our conference on Sept. 16.
David E. Corbin, Ph.D., FASHA, ACSE
President, NPHA