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Health Head Builds Community Bonds ; New Director Has Collaborative Style

Posted on: Monday, 1 November 2004, 18:00 CST

John Wiesman recently took over a public health system with a staff of 160 and an annual budget of $14 million. He doesn't want to stop there.

One of his first steps as new director has been meeting other people who can contribute to the mission of the Clark County Health Department.

Stepping in after the July retirement of Kay Koontz, he has spent the first few weeks on the job "learning what others are doing in the community, and the successes they've had," Wiesman said

One example is Fruit Valley Elementary, where Principal Debbie Elliott showed how the school hosts a community resource center.

"I was really impressed with the way they've integrated with the surrounding community," he said. "That's what I enjoy: seeing the successes people can have, and where our department can fit in on these things."

The health department might look at augmenting the Fruit Valley program through a federally funded nutritional program for women, infants and children, Wiesman said.

Wiesman's ability to carry the banner of public health beyond his own department helped him get the job, said a Clark County official.

County Administrator Bill Barron noted a track record of collaborations and partnerships.

"I always admire somebody who doesn't try to do it himself, who seeks out partnerships to solve a problem or initiate good public policy," Barron said.

Wiesman came to Clark County from a four-year stint as manager of the prevention division for the Seattle-King County Public Health Department.

Before that, Wiesman spent five years as public health manager with the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department. That's where he was in the middle of a community-based, partner-powered program to extend health care.

"As part of that, I led a planning process to see whether there was capacity in our community for the community health sector to provide immunization, family planning, refugee services. And indeed, there were providers ready to provide," Wiesman said.

"By connecting those clients to primary care, the department then further developed its communicable disease-control work and its relationships with all medical providers in the community," Wiesman (pronounced "weece-man") said.

He also planned a prevention system that focused on substance and alcohol abuse, tobacco use and family violence in Pierce County.

"We developed six teams that had public health nurses, environmental health people, community development people and health educators," he said. "We broke the county into six areas and had people listening to community issues and needs that reflected major risks to health."

The range of public health is expanding, Wiesman said, which will make collaborative programs even more crucial.

"Obesity, substance abuse, family violence and sexual behavior clearly are part of the public health system. Often, providers don't know how to address these issues in a way they feel comfortable with," Wiesman said. "As we develop a plan, we'll want to take a look at how we engage the medical community."

In Pierce County, it included anti-tobacco programs that had providers asking all their patients if they smoked, Wiesman said.

"Part of cessation is asking patients if they smoke, then assessing their readiness for attempting to quit, and then providing the resources if the patient is ready."

There's another new aspect to public health, he added.

"The terrorist piece: We have to partner with law enforcement in ways we never did before."

In Seattle, Wiesman oversaw a bigger staff (210) with a bigger budget ($40 million) than he has here. But Wiesman says the size of the Clark County Health Department, as well as the size of the community, appealed to him.

"It is large enough to have a staff with depth and experience; it's small enough to work together and collaborate," he said. "The community is large enough to have resources, but it's not too large: You can get a smaller number of people around the table."

Wiesman, 43, grew up in a small town in Wisconsin. He earned a bachelor's degree in biology at Lawrence University, in Appleton, Wisc., and then earned a master's in public health at Yale University.

He traces his interest in his field to a magazine story he read while working as a residence hall director in college.

"I was reading Time magazine about Legionnaire's disease," he said. "It was about an epidemiologist solving a mystery, and that turned me on to public health. It's the intersection between epidemiology and science; it affects people's lives."

Source: Columbian

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