MAYVILLE, N.Y. – The Chautauqua County Health Department (CCHD) continues celebrating its 60 years of public health during National Public Health Week. Last week we announced the 60th anniversary of the CCHD. On Monday we honored Dr. Berke for his 26 years of service as Chautauqua County’s Health Commissioner. Today, as we conclude our public health history series, we celebrate more recent local milestones in public health.
Public health promotes and protects the health of all people and their communities with a goal of giving everyone a safe place to live, learn, work, and play. A focus and specific emphasis on public health is essential because it improves our quality of life, helps children thrive, reduces human suffering, and saves money through tracking disease outbreaks, setting safe health standards, developing school nutrition programs, advocating for laws to keep people safe including smoke-free indoor air and seatbelts, addressing impacts of climate change, and much more. Public health work is shared amongst federal, state, and local health districts and community groups and partners.
Chautauqua County Public Health Director Lacey Wilson states, “It can be easy to misunderstand or be confused by what Public Health is or is meant to do. In short, public health efforts aim to improve and promote health status and overall wellness for whole groups and communities of people. We do that by focusing efforts on community-wide systems, policy and infrastructure improvements that benefit everyone that lives, works and plays there. It takes a tremendous amount of collaborative work, partnership and facilitation amongst agencies, groups, businesses and institutions to do public health work effectively. Over the course of my first year in this role I have been extremely impressed with the willingness on behalf of our local groups, organizations, elected leaders, municipalities, churches, etc. to come together, align priorities and work toward shared community-wide health improvement goals; many stepping up and stepping in to fill gaps where government funding cannot. I can say with confidence, that this does not happen everywhere and it makes me proud and inspires me to carry forward our county’s long-standing history of successful public health work in to the next generation.”
Some of the CCHD’s more recent public health milestones include:
- In 2007 the CCHD continued to improve upon public water infrastructure by conducting a comprehensive water system evaluation to identify strengths, weaknesses, and improvements needed by the 100-year old systems currently providing drinking water to many residents.
- The H1N1 influenza pandemic began in 2009 with the first Chautauqua County case reported in April. Later in the year and into 2010, the CCHD expended over 7,000 man hours to provide education and vaccination. 24,715 doses of H1N1 flu vaccine were administered by CCHD to County residents through school-based and public clinics.
- In order to ensure services are performed in a sanitary manor to prevent disease and infection, the CCHD updated its sanitary code in 2015 to include regulation of tattoo shops and body artists.
- A local law was brought before the county Legislature by the Chautauqua County Board of Health to raise the legal age to purchase tobacco products in Chautauqua County to 21. The local law passed in April 2016, three years before the New York State law went into effect in 2019.
- Oversight of the Chautauqua County Coroner Program was transferred from the County Legislature to the CCHD in 2018.The infrastructure of the coroner program has thrived with a focus on cost-savings, cross-agency collaboration, and overdose death investigations.
- The COVID-19 pandemic reached the United States and Chautauqua County in 2020. Staff worked tirelessly to keep up with the changing state mandates and to deliver clear and concise information to residents.
- The Chautauqua County Jail’s Medical Unit, staffed by the CCHD, received National Accreditation in 2023. The Correctional Health Team offers a public health approach to care that includes reproductive health care, immunizations, preventive screenings, chronic disease management, and a Substance Abuse Recovery and Re-entry Program.
- The CCHD’s new Mobile Health Vehicle arrived in 2023 providing another way to meet the needs of the community. The new vehicle was deployed in 2024, servicing 42 mobile health clinics at various locations around the county.
Wilson continues “The public health of Chautauqua County has improved largely due to the work of our community. People and organizations coming together, motivated to effectuate positive change to improve the health of the people living here by fixing what needs repaired. The Chautauqua County Health Department is part of that community. I look forward to the future and continuing this legacy!”
This concludes our series of the history of public health in Chautauqua County. We hope you have enjoyed reading about the incredible work happening locally and the importance of public health in all communities.
About Chautauqua County Health Department - The Chautauqua County Health Department is the leading Public Health organization in Chautauqua County dedicated to the support of the community’s health. The Health Department takes innovative approaches to provide technical assistance to partner organizations, and offers various programs and services in order to help prevent disease, protect the public’s health and promote our community’s overall health and wellness. For more information visit www.HealthyCHQ.com.
References: 2007-2023 Annual Reports of the Chautauqua County Health Department
