Table of Contents - Unified Government of Wyandotte County ...

Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, KansasDepartment Overview:2012 Amended and 2013 Operating BudgetDepartment OverviewPublic Health DepartmentThe Health Department promotes good health and a safe environment for a better community byproviding a variety of services which range from promoting and encouraging healthy lifestyle behavior,to diagnosing, investigating and preventing health and environmental problems and hazards in thecommunity.Important Issues: Healthy Communities Wyandotte has completed its “Recommendations for a Better Future”community health improvement plan. The areas addressed by the plan take a comprehensiveview of health and, if implemented, will benefit the community as a whole. The Public HealthDepartment is proposing in the 2013 budget to establish a Healthy Communities Wyandotte lineitem for funding to be used in conjunction with the grant received ($100,000) from the RobertWood Johnson Foundation. The amount proposed is $12,500 and will be added to otherfoundation funding to continue the program through 2013.In recent budgets there have been funds transferred from the Health Levy. These funds havebeen used in the past for building improvements, new public health initiatives or stabilizingprograms with reductions in grant funding. As the fund balance declines, the ability to respondfinancially to future needs of the department becomes a concern.The Public Health Department benefits from aid-to-local funding from the Kansas Department ofHealth and Environment that is unrestricted. It is currently used for salaries and forpharmaceuticals. Local levy funding is necessary to meet the KDHE’s Maintenance of Effortrequirement which is becoming very difficult due to the overall valuation decline.Highlights: Successfully implemented an electronic health record which replaced our old paper chartsystem. This has greatly improved both the quality and efficiency of the services that we offerour clients. Began a new program of evidence-based behavioral interventions through our SexuallyTransmitted Disease and Family Planning programs. This involved hiring and training of newhealth educators and also involved a comprehensive remodeling of the associated clinical andclient service areas in order to provide more efficient, confidential, and comprehensive clientinterviews and educational interventions.At the annual public health preparedness assessment (02/28/2012), Wyandotte Countyreceived a 100% score on their Local Technical Assistance Review (LTAR) from the KansasDept. of Health and Environment. This is the first perfect score in the state awarded by KDHE. In September, 2011, USD #500 reported 98% compliance with childhood immunizationrequirements for all of their students K-12. This compares with 80% the previous year. TheHealth Department worked closely with USD #500 staff to assist with this tremendousturnaround.169