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Three organizations and
two individual working to address health issues in the community will receive
the 2018 Ramsey County Public Health Award at a meeting of the Ramsey
County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday, April 3, 2018. The annual awards,
sponsored by Saint Paul - Ramsey County Public Health, recognize individuals
and groups who have made exceptional contributions to improving health by advancing health equity in the county.
The 2018 Ramsey County
Public Health Award winners are:
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Saint Paul Public Schools -- Dayton’s Bluff Achievement Plus Elementary,
the district’s Student Placement Center,
and Somali Cultural Specialist
Mohamed Hadi for their work to promote immunizations before and during the
2017 measles outbreak.
- Shoreview
resident Eugene Nichols for his leadership in reducing youth access
to tobacco products and his long-standing work promoting health, mental health
and wellbeing.
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United Family Medicine and the Mitchell Hamline School of Law for their partnership to help clinic patients address
legal issues that affect health.
"Our 2018 award winners worked on a range of different issues, but
all demonstrated a common understanding that partnership and collaboration are essential
to advancing health equity,” said Ramsey County Board Chair Jim McDonough. “Many
hands coming together is the best way to solve health challenges in our
community.”
The award presentation coincides with National Public Health Week, April 2 -8. “Public Health is uniquely positioned to facilitate and
encourage partnerships between people and organizations across the private and
public sector to advance health equity” said Anne M. Barry, Director of Saint
Paul – Ramsey County Public Health. “The awards we present during National Public
Health Week underscore that it’s up to all of us to advance health and racial
equity by addressing the social, environmental and behavioral factors that
impact health.”
Nominations for the awards were solicited from the public earlier this year. This is the fourth year Public Health has recognized individuals and
groups for their work. Nominations for the 2019 Ramsey County Public Health
Awards will be accepted starting in January. Find more information on the
awards, including a list of past honorees, at www.ramseycounty.us/publichealthawards
More information about the 2018 Public Health Award winners:
Saint Paul Public Schools
In the spring and summer of 2017, Minnesota experienced
the largest outbreak of measles since 1990. The outbreak sickened 79 people,
primarily children under 10 years of age, most who were unvaccinated for
measles. Seventy of the cases were in Hennepin County, three in Ramsey County
and the rest in other counties.
Saint Paul Public Schools are being recognized for their
exemplary work before and during the measles outbreak to promote immunizations
and build “herd” or community
immunity -- a
situation where infectious disease is unlikely to spread because a high
percentage of the population has been immunized.
Dayton's Bluff Achievement Plus Elementary School is a leader across schools in Ramsey County for having 100 percent of their students vaccinated. This exceptional rate has been achieved despite the challenge of a student population where 92 percent qualify for free or reduced lunch. The vaccinations offered in the school nurses office fits together with the Achievement Plus model where the school and community provide other wrap around health and social services to ensure academic success.
Mohamed Hadi is a
Somali Cultural Specialist for the Family Engagement and Community Partnerships division of the Saint Paul Public Schools. During the 2017 measles outbreak, Hadi showed leadership in reaching out to the Somali community through a variety
of places where young families gather. On Fridays during the peak of the
outbreak, he routinely met with imams prior to prayer to share current
information about measles. At community events, he partnered with a Saint Paul
– Ramsey County Public Health epidemiologist to provide information and answer
questions. Working across civic and school district boundaries was key in controlling the spread of
measles in 2017.
The Student Placement Center in Saint Paul
Public Schools is the welcome center for new and returning students, educating
families about requirements for school entry and supporting efforts to immunize
children. Last year, Placement Center health staff administered 1,423
vaccinations to 574 students. Nurses at the Placement Center serve as an immunization
resource for all school nurses in Saint Paul and field questions daily on
disease prevention and control. They communicate skillfully, with a racial
equity lens, supporting health equity with bilingual staff and materials
translated into languages families can read.
Community Volunteer Eugene
Nichols
Eugene Nichols is a long-standing
community leader and volunteer who has generously donated his time and talents
to improving health and advancing health equity in Ramsey County. A retired 3M
Health Care Division Manager, Nichols currently serves as Board Chair at Open
Cities Health Center, chairs the African American Leadership Forum-Health and
Wellness Group and serves on Shoreview's Human Rights Commission. He is also a
member of Saint Paul – Ramsey County Public Health’s Community Health Services
Advisory Committee, and chairs the Mental Health and Well-being Action Team.
Nichols was nominated for his
tireless efforts to engage the community, raise awareness and ensure citizen’s
voices are heard on a range of issues from healthy eating, active living and
tobacco use, to nurse home visiting, mental health and well-being. Nichols is
credited with a great ability to facilitate dynamic community dialogue and
skill in guiding collaborative partnerships to stay focused to achieve their
goals.
Nichols was the project manager of a recent African-American
Leadership Forum survey
of menthol tobacco use and coordinated subsequent forums that engaged African
American community leaders, churches and citizens on this issue. Data from the
survey was shared with county and city governments which informed decisions on
a county resolution in support of restricting youth access to menthol products,
and a Saint Paul City Council ordinance limiting the sale and youth access to
flavored and menthol products.
United Family Medicine and Mitchell
Hamline School of Law's Medical Legal Partnership
In 2015, United Family Medicine (UFM) partnered
with the Mitchell Hamline School of Law
to launch a Medical Legal Partnership at UFM primary healthcare clinics. The
partnership enables Mitchell Hamline law students to provide legal assistance
to patients under the supervision of a university staff attorney.
The Medical
Legal Partnership team is on‐site at UFM three days a week, meeting with
patients in a location they know and trust. The partnership has been successful
in helping patients at the clinic address legal issues that affect their health
and the health of their families. Over the course of the partnership, the
students and managing attorney have met with more than 300 patients.
While some patients
are referred to external sources, the partnership team takes on a variety of
cases. Many patients have basic questions that can be addressed with education
and do not require legal counsel. Major issues addressed include understanding
short‐term disability, the Family and Medical Leave Act, employment
discrimination and employee rights, immigrant laws and rights, landlord tenant
laws, and the basics of Social Security.
There are
14 Medical Legal Partnerships in Minnesota, the UFM-Mitchell Hamline collaboration
is the only one at a community health center in Ramsey County. Both UFM and Mitchell Hamline School of Law
are active in the Upper Midwest Healthcare Learning Collaborative which
continues to explore best practices and strategies to achieve long‐term
sustainability with other Medical Legal Partnerships in Minnesota.
# # #
Contact: Chris Burns, Communications Manager, Health and Wellness, 651-266-2537
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