The Board of Commissioners on Thursday, April 6, approved a proclamation declaring April 3 to 9 as Public Health Week in Multnomah County.
The proclamation coincides with National Public Health Week, which as President Joe Biden noted in his federal proclamation, highlights issues like immunization access, safety standards for food, traffic, and the workplace, and clean air and water.
“Public health is a priority 52 weeks of the year because our social safety net relies on a robust public health response when members of our community are doing well and when they’re in crisis,” said Chair Jessica Vega Pederson. “This week of reflection and celebration helps us slow down and remember what public health means to us.”
At Multnomah County, the work of its Public Health Division prioritizes connection with community, from the Healthy Birth Initiative and Future Generations Collaborative, to the Racial and Ethnic Approach to Community Health program’s role as a convener of neighborhood, community and faith-based organizations to reduce racial and ethnic disparities.
However, for this year’s Public Health Proclamation, Interim Health Department Director Valdez Bravo wanted to illustrate not only the amazing work of the Public Health Division, but of all divisions across the Health Department who take a public health approach everyday in what they do.
Public Health Week celebrates the more than 1,500 employees in the Health Department dedicated to public health. Multnomah County health leaders celebrated Public Health Week with a series of events related to this year’s theme: Centering and Celebrating Cultures in Health. “Health Department staff do not just serve our community, they are part of the community,” stated Bravo. “Everyday they bring passion, expertise, innovation, and care to their work in support of a healthier community for themselves, their loved ones, their colleagues and everyone across Multnomah County.”
The idea and aims of public health are vast and go beyond providing a person’s primary care, said Bravo. It connects community wisdom and experience with data, science and medicine — and for that reason, public health takes everyone to be successful.
Before reading the proclamation in full, Bravo described what public health needs to fully serve the community. “In the Health Department, that means collaboration across all our divisions to generate impactful and sustainable solutions,” said Bravo.
“As a community, that means caring for one another, listening to one another, engaging in civic actions and being stewards of our environment. And as the government, it means evaluating and changing systems rooted in oppression and building infrastructure and opportunity that truly serves everyone in our community.”
Public Health Week is an opportunity for the Health Department to draw attention to the expansion of cross-departmental collaboration. Jaxon Mitchell, the County’s HIV/STI/Harm Reduction Prevention and Intervention manager, explained how COVID-19 is often the most immediate example of a unified response that comes to mind, but prior to the pandemic COVID-19, programs were already collaborating across systems.
Mitchell went on to offer examples of partnership between the different divisions within the Health Department where collaboration is critical to serve the community. The divisions have worked together to address the increases in HIV and syphilis in the community, distribute naloxone upon release to prevent overdoses among adults exiting corrections settings and perform culturally responsive outreach and education about vaccine-preventable communicable diseases like measles.
The work of public health includes evaluating the systems and circumstances that cause problems and then working to address those while providing direct services, said Addiction Services Manager Anthony Jordan.
“By not just addressing what is immediately in front of us, but also asking how we can serve a person's addiction needs using a holistic approach, is (also) the work of public health,” said Jordan.
“These questions are expansive, but solving them is possible. Through embracing collaboration, innovation and persistence, we improve our community every day.”
Myque Obiero, Corrections Health Director, went on to describe people who work in public health as dedicated public servants who give so much in service to vulnerable community members with no expectation of rewards or accolades in return.
He pointed to nurse Jana Jarosh who, during the February 2023 severe winter weather event, skied to the Donald E. Long Juvenile Detention Center. Jarosh was one of the dozens of staff who risked their own safety to ensure they got to work. During the snowstorm, others walked to work, paid for hotels to ensure they could get to work, and picked up additional double shifts intentionally. There even were staff who slept in the jails.
“It wasn’t simply a case of showing up or being at work. It was a recognition that there were vulnerable adults and youth that needed us there,” said Obiero. “While many stayed home, they showed up and served. This is the way.”
Michele Koder, Multnomah County’s Integrated Clinical Services pharmacy director, concluded the Health Department’s presentation to the Board, speaking on the connection between public health and social justice.
“Born out of the War on Poverty and Civil Rights movements of the 1960s, health centers embraced the concept that health is more than just a medical appointment,” said Koder. “They extend into social wellness and racial equity.”
“This is the first time in memory for me that we have had such a universal presentation around the role of our entire Health Department in public health and the importance of the work that is happening across all the different facets of the way that we deliver health and engage with community health at Multnomah County,” concluded Vega Pederson.
“There was so much focus on public health during the COVID-19 pandemic, but we must continue to lift up the importance of public health and the critical role it plays for community members.”