Whitewater Rotarians hear efforts made to keep public safe
By Tom Ganser
Correspondent
Janis Ellefsen, Health Officer/Manager for Walworth County Public Health Services, presented an overview of the agency to the Whitewater Rotary Club on Jan. 13 entitled “Public Health: Everyone, Everywhere, Every Day.”
“We are the only department at Health and Human Services that is focused on preventing incidents – disease, being prepared for emergencies,” Ellefsen said. “Every other division at Health and Human Services is reactive. They react to issues and problems but we’re there to be preventive.”
Following a brief history of public health, beginning with the building of aqueducts in Rome to provide clean water, Ellefsen shared with Rotarians the 10 essential services provided by Public Health as described by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
Those services, according to Ellefsen, include, “(To) diagnose and investigate health problems and health hazards in the community; link people to needed personal health services and assure the provision of health care when otherwise unavailable; and, evaluate effectiveness, accessibility, and quality of personal and population-based health services.”
Ellefsen said Public Health Officers have a level of statutory authority generally unknown to people.
“If I thought the Walworth County Fair had a health hazard, I could close down the fair. I have that authority to do that,” she said. “I would have to go to court. But the Public Health Officer in your counties has the right to protect the safety of the public.”
Public Health Officers, she said, can also obtain court orders to inspect homes if they believe there may be a health hazard and to quarantine and isolate individuals.
According to Ellefsen, Walworth County relies on state and federal grants and tax levy for all the programs.
“Wisconsin is the 49th worst funded state in grant funding for public health, at about $42 per capita. The national average is $92 per capita,” Ellefsen said.
Among the programs currently offered in Walworth County, “Environmental Health is a program that we’ve really tried to build up over the last couple years. Last year we opened up our own water lab at the county building and we are doing water testing for residents’ private wells [and] for almost 200 facilities in the county that are on well water but serve the public,” Ellefsen said.
As part of the immunization program, she explained, shingles immunizations are now available for older adults at a cost of $185, about half the cost charged by other providers.
Ellefsen described the goal of Public Health as “constantly evolving to address new threats.”
Recent initiatives include expanding the number of Medication Drop Boxes available in the county, kits for testing well water for the presence of bacteria, radon test kits and investigation of a noticeable outbreak of pertussis, and the monitoring of Walworth County residents for Ebola who have returned from Ebola ridden countries.
Erica Bergstrom, Environmental Health Specialist for the county, assisted Ellefsen with the presentation.
For information about hosting a presentation on Walworth County Public Health Services contact Ellefsen at (262) 741-3140.
