Volume

Cerro Gordo County Department of Public Health

Strategic Planning

2008-2011

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements ii

Mission, Vision, & Value Statements 1

SWOT Process 4

Strategic Directions 6

Health Priorities 10

Amended Health Priorities 12

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Acknowledgements

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Phil Dougherty, Pat Galasso, Mark Johnson, M.D.,

Barb Kellogg and Candi Schickel of the Board of Health and Michele Appelgate, Penny Bakehouse,

Tammy Bryant, Dorene Christensen, Karen Crimmings, Brian Hanft, Brenda Heinz, Betty Krones,

Deanna Loeschen, Lisa Losen, Penny McCaslin, Ronald J. Osterholm, Linda Read, Daniel Ries, Cliff

True, Andrea Turnbull, Kara Vogelson and Jodi Willemsen of the Cerro Gordo County Department

of Public Health for your active participation, time and energy as well as your commitment to the

entire strategic planning process.

I would like to express my heartfelt thanks the entire CGCDPH staff for your thoughts and ideas in

the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) process. Your input was essential

to the development of our 2008 – 2011 Strategic Directions.

Lastly, I would like to thank Michelle Chuk from the National Association of County and City

Health Officials for her expertise and excellent facilitation skills. Your hard work, time and

dedication to the project provided the staff and Board members with a seamless process.

Leslie M. Smith, M.P.H., C.H.E.S. Health Planning & Development Service Manager Cerro Gordo County Department of Public Health

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Mission, Vision & Value Statements

n October 10, 2007, a group of seventeen staff members representing all service sections

within the department engaged in a group consensus workshop in order to review the

current mission and value statements and create new statements. In order to commence the

meeting, the group members were asked to reflect upon the following questions: “Is the mission

statement still relevant, concise and outcome-oriented, are there items that ought to be added, and

does it describe what we do, why, how and for whom we do it?” The staff was then asked to edit

the current mission by deciding what to keep, what to amend, what to discard, and what to add.

Following this discussion, the staff members drafted revised statements and came to a consensus on

the following new mission statement for approval:

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Mission: Dedicated to enhancing the health status of our communities through public health

initiatives.

Utilizing the same facilitation method, the meeting changed its focus to the value statement by

asking those present to read the current statement and determine if it is relevant today, missing

information and describes a code of behavior to aspire towards. The staff was then asked to edit the

current value statement by deciding what to keep, what to modify, what to discard, and what to

include. Following this discussion, the staff members drafted revised statements and agreed to

submit the following value statement for approval:

Value: We believe in human dignity, respect for individual choices, promotion of wellness and

personal safety, protection of the environment, prevention of disease and access to

quality health services.

Upon presentation to the Board of Health on November 16, 2007, the new mission and value

statements were accepted as written.

On October 12, 2007, the group reconvened to review the current vision statement and establish a

new statement. Through a similar group consensus method used in the previous workshop, the

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meeting began with a brief overview of the components of a vision statement. For example, a vision

statement should be short, inspiring, easily communicated and present an image of what success will

look like in a given timeframe. Following this synopsis, the question “What is your vision of Cerro

Gordo County Department of Public Health in 5 years?” was proposed to the group for discussion.

By the end of the two hour workshop, the group resulted with the following for consideration as a

new vision statement:

Vision: Influencing change through public health leadership.

Upon presentation to the Board of Health on November 16, 2007, recommendations were offered to

amend the vision to allow for the following stronger and more collaborative statement, “Driving health

system change through public health leadership and collaboration.” Upon discussion, the Core Team

members felt the revised statement deviated from the department’s scope of services, in that, the direction

will be focused solely upon the “health system.” Additionally, the Core Team members felt that only a

single leader with the capacity to inspire and instill direction to those in support of an initiative is needed

to drive public health system change. However, the revised statement conveyed the need of more than

one leader with the inclusion of “collaboration.” Moreover, the collaboration piece is included as a

significant component of the strategic directions, and thereby, did not need incorporated in the vision

statement. Given these rationales and the recommendations from the Board of Health, the Core Team

devised the following statement for consideration:

Vision: Driving public health system change through strong and directed leadership.

Upon presentation to the Board of Health on January 4, 2008, the newly revised vision statement was

accepted as written.

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Mission Statement

Dedicated to enhancing the health status of our communities through public health initiatives.

Vision Statement

Driving public health system change through strong and directed leadership.

Value Statement

We believe in human dignity, respect for individual choices, promotion of wellness and personal safety,

protection of the environment, prevention of disease and access to quality health services.

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4

5

Strategic Directions

he

an

strategic directions provide an overall strategy for achieving the department’s mission

d vision. Moreover, the strategic directions are essential elements of the entire strategic

plan, as they provide continuity and guidance to CGCDPH’s development over the next 3-5 years.

Each of these statements includes a strategic objective, which describe the intended outcomes to

achieve. Utilizing the five emerged themes from the SWOT Analysis, the team of seventeen staff

members began to develop the Strategic Directions for the department. After determining the

statements and objectives, the Core Team presented the results to the Board of Health for review,

which concluded with new revisions to the document.

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A few of weeks following the creation and revision of the Strategic Directions, the Core Team members

assembled to review the changes and determine if any further changes were needed. After long

discussions over each individual strategic direction, the team concluded to present the following

statements to the Board of Health for approval:

1. Support and enhance sound public health infrastructure that enables delivery of high quality services and ensures capability to identify and respond to community needs.

Objectives On-going critical infrastructure improvements including but not limited to:

Information Technology Physical space

Planning, promoting and implementing Continuity of Operations activities Enhancing capacity for Health Planning and Development Developing, approving and implementing surge capacity improvement plan

2. Improve county health status through wellness initiatives.

Objectives Reduce impact of chronic and acute diseases by supporting and advancing critical activities

such as: Public Health Nursing Family Health Health Promotion and Education Disease Prevention and Protection

Ensure a healthy environment for all people by supporting and advancing critical activities such as:

Water sampling and air quality monitoring Food safety training, ensuring food access and security

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Farming and agriculture standards Healthy Homes programming

Strengthen activities focused on Preparedness planning and response in an all-hazards model such as:

Community focused preparedness efforts Internal training and exercising Enhance multi-jurisdictional response capacity

Explore and support evidence-based public health program development whenever possible such as:

Land Use Planning and Community Design and its relationship to health and wellness

Injury Prevention Mental Health Substance Use and Abuse

3. Advance development of a comprehensive, community-focused, data gathering and dissemination

surveillance system. Objectives

Conduct an inventory and develop a systems improvement plan Identify, obtain and maintain access to data Standardize data entry processes Improve timely collection, entry and access to data Understand geographic diversity and collect appropriate geographic information Analyze data with systematic methodology

4. Lead public health efforts to develop an evidence based, protection-centric, collaborative and seamless

health system. Objectives

Inventory the existing traditional and non-traditional health resources and services Identify gaps and barriers in provision of and access to care Support a health system that promotes justice and equity in health Evaluate effectiveness of payment system Develop recommendations to rebalance funding streams to focus on health vs. illness Reduce duplication of efforts Expand necessary programs to meet community needs

5. Investigate and pursue a broad range of financial and collaborative opportunities while building a

foundation for sustainability Objectives

Explore diversification of funding with increased attention on non-categorical grants and infrastructure support

Develop flexible funding opportunities that can more effectively respond to community needs and emerging issues

Advocate for long-term support of the new public health foundation Secure funding to procure critical assets Initiate conversations with the Iowa Department of Public Health and the Iowa

Association of Local Public Health Agencies to re-define appropriate funding streams

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6. Refine strategies to improve community awareness about public health issues. Objectives

Brand public health with positive messages about healthy choices Develop compelling messages to “tell the story” in order to personalize the value of

healthy choices for individuals and families Capitalize on relationships with media entities Evaluate the impact of marketing strategies Advocate for public health initiatives

7. Develop and sustain trusting and accountable relationships with local, state and federal entities.

Objectives Monitor the value and effectiveness of relationships on an ongoing basis Nourish and foster functioning partnerships Focus efforts on successful relationships Explore relationships with non-traditional partners Enhance the credibility of the health department as a community leader

8. Maintain an organizational structure that cultivates a skilled and diverse workforce.

Objectives Hire and train staff to respond effectively to community health needs and emerging health

issues/threats Value and support professional development Recruit and retain exceptionally qualified individuals Promote a proactive, forward-thinking and flexible culture Remain team-focused and relational in a supportive environment

Upon presentation to the Board of Health on January 4, 2008, the above strategic directions and

objectives were approved.

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Strategic Direction

1. Support and enhance sound public health infrastructure that enables delivery of high quality services and ensures capability to identify and respond to community needs.

2. Improve county health status through wellness initiatives.

3. Advance development of a comprehensive, community-focused, data gathering and dissemination surveillance system.

4. Lead public health efforts to develop an evidence based, protection-centric, collaborative and seamless health system.

5. Investigate and pursue a broad range of financial and collaborative opportunities while building a foundation for sustainability.

6. Refine strategies to improve community awareness about public health issues.

7. Develop and sustain trusting and accountable relationships with local, state and federal entities.

8. Maintain an organizational structure that cultivates a skilled and diverse workforce.

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Health Priorities n o

Go

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rder to determine the health priorities for the community, health indicator data for Cerro

rdo County and the State of Iowa was collected and analyzed. These indicators were

d by categories including demographic and socioeconomic, general health and access, birth

and infant, chronic disease, infectious disease, environmental health, social and mental health, and

injury and violence. Once categorized, the data was compiled into one document and distributed to

the seventeen staff members for review. After analyzing the information, each team member was

asked to rank their top ten health priorities with 1 as the most significant to 10 as the least significant

priority in their top ten list. These lists were collected and tallied for Core Team discussion on

December 31, 2007. The results of the meeting include the following tiered health priorities, system

development priorities, and health issues to monitor and support.

Tier One:

Heart Disease/Stroke

Substance Abuse (including Tobacco)

Physical Activity & Nutrition

Overweight/Obesity

Radon

Diabetes

Tier Two:

STDs (including HIV)

Viral Hepatitis

Respiratory Disease

Lead Poisoning

Indoor/Outdoor Air Quality

Tier Three:

Pneumonia & Influenza

Unintentional Injuries

Food Safety

Teen Pregnancy

Water Well Safety

Immunizations

System Development Priorities: 1. Public Health Preparedness

Surge Capacity

Information Technology

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Trained & Education Staff

Structured Communication Plan

Logistical Resources

2. Expand Access to Preventative Care Initiatives

Free Clinic

Community Wellness Program

3. Built Environment

4. Disease Surveillance & Investigation

Health Issues to Monitor:

Tuberculosis

Recreational Water Safety

Health Issues to Support:

Alzheimer’s Disease

Mental Health Initiatives

Abuse (all types)

Cancer (all types)

Low Birth Weight

Prenatal Care

Upon presentation to the Board of Health on January 4, 2008, the above health priorities were accepted.

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Amended Health Priorities

On September 29, 2009, the Board of Health and Core Team members held a retreat to review

SWOT responses, strategic directions and health priorities. The following amended tiered priorities,

system development priorities, health issues to monitor and health issues to support are a result

from that retreat. Additions or changes are noted by purple text. All amendments met with Board of

Health approval on September 29, 2009.

Tier One:

Heart Disease/Stroke

Youth Substance Abuse Prevention

(Tobacco Prevention)

Wellness (Physical Activity & Nutrition)

Cancer Prevention Screening

Overweight/Obesity

Radon

Diabetes

Pneumonia & Influenza

Tier Two:

STDs (including HIV)

Viral Hepatitis

Respiratory Disease

Lead Poisoning

Indoor/Outdoor Air Quality

Tier Three:

Unintentional Injuries

Food Safety

Teen Pregnancy

Water Well Safety

Immunizations

System Development Priorities:

1. Wellness

2. Public Health Preparedness

Surge Capacity

Information Technology

Trained & Educated Staff

Structured Communication Plan

Logistical Resources

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3. Expand Access to Preventative Care Initiatives

Free Clinic

Community Wellness Program

Cancer Prevention Screening

4. Built Environment

5. Disease Surveillance & Investigation

Health Issues to Monitor:

Tuberculosis

Recreational Water Safety

Health Issues to Support:

Alzheimer’s Disease

Mental Health Initiatives

Abuse (all types)

Low Birth Weight

Prenatal Care

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