Colorado welcomes historic public health reform: new legislation brings comprehensive services to entire state.Public health in Colorado took a huge leap toward the future in May with the passage of landmark legislation that will restructure and revitalize re·vi·tal·ize tr.v. re·vi·tal·ized, re·vi·tal·iz·ing, re·vi·tal·iz·es To impart new life or vigor to: plans to revitalize inner-city neighborhoods; tried to revitalize a flagging economy. the state's public health infrastructure. The Colorado Public Health Reauthorization Act, signed into law June 3 by Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter Bill Ritter may refer to:
Under the new law, each county in Colorado must establish--or be part of--a local public health agency organized under a local board of health with a public health director and other staff necessary to provide public health services. In addition, the state of Colorado and each local public health agency must, by Dec. 31, 2009, have a comprehensive public health plan in place that outlines how services will be provided. The Caring for Colorado Foundation will sponsor a summit in November to begin developing the statewide public health plan. The new law calls on public officials, including the State Board of Health, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, county commissioners, local public health directors and local boards of health, to work together to develop a statewide public health improvement plan that will become the model for local public health improvement plans. Hailed as historic legislation by Colorado public health leaders, the new law recognizes that public health has evolved over time to deal with more than just the diseases that century ago, such as cow pox pox (poks) any eruptive or pustular disease, especially one caused by a virus, e.g., chickenpox, cowpox, etc. pox n. 1. and cholera cholera (kŏl`ərə) or Asiatic cholera, acute infectious disease caused by strains of the bacterium Vibrio cholerae that have been infected by bacteriophages. . The new law broadens public health's focus to encompass today's pressing public health issues, such as environmental health, obesity and new diseases such as West Nile virus West Nile virus, microorganism and the infection resulting from it, which typically produces no symptoms or a flulike condition. The virus is a flavivirus and is related to a number of viruses that cause encephalitis. . [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In recent years, efforts by various public health groups to revise the public health laws in Colorado have not met with success. This year, however, the political climate was more favorable, said Jennifer Miles, MSW (MicroSoft Word) See Microsoft Word. , a lobbyist for the Colorado Public Health Association. Last November, Colorado state Sen. Bob Hagedorn, chair of the Colorado Senate's Health and Human Services Noun 1. Health and Human Services - the United States federal department that administers all federal programs dealing with health and welfare; created in 1979 Department of Health and Human Services, HHS Committee, contacted Miles to say he was interested in having a major public health bill as part of his last term. "It was something (Hagedorn) believed strongly in," Miles told The Nation's Health. "It was his last term in the Colorado Senate and it was a legacy he wanted to leave." The Public Health Alliance of Colorado moved swiftly to bring stakeholders Stakeholders All parties that have an interest, financial or otherwise, in a firm-stockholders, creditors, bondholders, employees, customers, management, the community, and the government. together to draft the legislation. Formed in 2007, the alliance is a state collaborative of 10 public health groups in Colorado. "We were the conveners," said alliance manager Sharon Stevenson, MA, who is an APHA member. "We didn't own the bill in any way. There was a lot of give and take, a lot of meetings of core people coming together and drafting legislation and making concessions and hearing feedback from all the groups." Some of the language in the 47-page bill is based on the Model State Public Health Act developed by Turning Point's Public Health Statute Modernization modernization Transformation of a society from a rural and agrarian condition to a secular, urban, and industrial one. It is closely linked with industrialization. As societies modernize, the individual becomes increasingly important, gradually replacing the family, Collaborative, said Colorado Public Health Association President Steve Holloway, who is an APHA member. The Model State Public Health Act, released in September 2003, was created to help update current state, local and tribal public health laws, many of which are outdated and insufficient to handle modern public health threats. "Various public health groups in the past in Colorado had attempted changes to the legislation, so we used some of their work as a template as well," Holloway said. Public health services have been inconsistent around the state, said APHA member Lee Thielen, MPA MPA medroxyprogesterone acetate. , executive director of the Public Health Alliance of Colorado and executive director of the Colorado Association of Local Public Health Officials. "This legislation should lead to greater consistency and the availability of more comprehensive services, regardless of where one lives, works or travels in Colorado," Thielen said. For more information, visit www.publichealthalliance.org. |
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