Message From The Commissioner This past Friday, I joined Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Dr. Stephanie Whyte, Chief Medical Officer at Chicago Public Schools (CPS) on a visit to the Columbia Explorers Academy in Brighton Park. We were there to make a big announcement – how CDPH was expanding the school-based vision program in CPS starting next week. Thanks to a $1 million investment, we will now be able to provide 30,000 CPS students with comprehensive vision exams and eyeglasses at no cost to the students. This is huge news! After all, how can a student learn if she or he cannot see the blackboard at the front of the room. Studies confirm this, as they consistently show that both academic performance and behavior improve significantly when vision problems are corrected. CPS has had a great vision program in the past that provided free screenings to all children. Unfortunately, only a small percentage of children who failed their screening received the necessary follow-up exam from an optometrist. Thanks to this expansion, any student who fails their screening can receive the exam and a pair of glasses at no cost, in their own school. For as excited as I was about making the announcement when I arrived at the school, it was made all the more tangible as I met students at Columbia Explorers who were in line for their first eye exam. They were all jumping with anticipation for the exam and spent quite some time picking out the frames that best matched their style or personality. On Friday, there was only one optometrist in only one school. But in just one week there will be ten optometrists visiting multiple schools every day, so every student will be able to see the brighter future ahead. That’s what public health is all about. Sincerely,

Bechara Choucair, M.D.

May 2013 UPDATE

www.CityofChicago.org/Health

HEALTHY CHICAGO PRIORITIES

CHICAGO DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH

On April 30, 76 Austin community members, including faith leaders and representatives from community organizations, attended a forum on the Affordable Care Act and health disparities in the Austin community. The forum, The State of Health of the Austin Community and how the Affordable Care Act Can Help, was organized by Performing Community Solutions. Presenters included CDPH, Sinai Urban Health Institute, Health & Disability Advocates/Illinois Health Matters, and Campaign for Better Health Care. The event was moderated by Circle Family Healthcare Network. (Access to Care)

The national nonprofit KaBOOM recently named Chicago

as a 2013 Playful City USA community for its efforts to provide children with access to a wide variety of safe opportunities for play. Chicago is one of 217 honorees. A major component of the recognition is the Mayor’s call to ensure that every child in Chicago will live within a 10-minute walk from a neighborhood park. In March, Mayor Rahm Emanuel unveiled the new “Chicago Plays” Playground Program, a 5-year playground renovation project. (Obesity Prevention, Heart Disease & Stroke)

The City of Chicago’s bike sharing program is set to

launch in June. The federally-funded program, called Divvy, is designed as an alterative to driving and public transportation for short trips. Seventy-five solar-powered docking stations will be available in the Loop and in River North, and the program will expand to 400 stations and 4,000 bikes within a year. Many of the docking stations will be at Union Station, Ogilvie Transportation Center, and CTA stations. Bike-sharing memberships as well as daily passes will be available, and users are encouraged to bring their own bike helmets. The program is operated by Alta Bicycle Share. For more information, visit www.divvybikes.com. (Obesity Prevention, Heart Disease and Stroke)

HEALTHY CHICAGO IMPLEMENTATION

www.CityofChicago.org/Health

CDPH rolled out a new Whooping Cough (Pertussis) immunization campaign in April, in conjunction with National Immunization Week. The campaign calls on families to vaccinate themselves against Whooping Cough to help protect their infants. Chicago Public Schools is now requiring all 6th through 12th graders to get their Tdap shot before beginning the 2013-2014 school year. (Communicable Disease Control & Prevention)

Through an expansion of the urban, organic farm

Growing Home, the Englewood community will be home to one of the nation’s largest urban agricultur-al districts. Growing Home is expanding to 1.5 acres, quadrupling its workforce training initiatives, and will triple its produce output to 40,000 pounds of pro-duce per year. Most produce will be sold to local resi-dents. The project is one example of the more than $363 million in public and private investments in greater Englewood, and is part of the Chicago Neigh-borhoods Now initiative. To learn more about Grow-ing Home, visit http://growinghomeinc.org/. (Obesity Prevention, Heart Disease & Stroke)

www.CityofChicago.org/Health

HEALTHY CHICAGO IMPLEMENTATION

This year’s PlayStreets season kicked-off in April, with Gads Hill hosting an event in North Lawndale that engaged about 40 children in a range of activities, from hula hooping to giant chess and soccer games. PlayStreets closes off streets in order to provide a safe, supervised space with organized outdoor activities, with the aim of reducing childhood obesity. CDPH’s PlayStreets is possible through the efforts of the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT), which closes off city streets, and partners Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois (BCBSIL), Active Transportation Alliance, Gads Hill, Local Initiatives Support Corporation Chicago (LISC Chicago) and World Sport Chicago. Events will continue throughout the spring and summer. (Obesity Prevention, Heart Disease & Stroke)

In April and May, UIC School of Public Health graduate

students, guided by six community-based organizations, conducted a health assessment of the Little Village community area. The assessment centered around six Healthy Chicago priority areas (Healthy Mothers and Babies, Violence Prevention, Healthy Homes, Access to Care, Obesity Prevention, Adolescent Health). The students analyzed quantitative data and qualitative data (obtained through focus groups, interviews and surveys). Students presented findings at three platicas (community meetings) in Little Village, and a panel of local experts and audience members responded to the results. A report will be produced to assist community agencies in utilizing this information in their planning and community work. (Multiple Priorities)

Healthy Chicago Policy Highlights

On May 8, the Chicago City Council approved an amend-ment to the demolition and renovation ordinance that aims to reduce the risk of exposure to dust and debris that may be contaminated with lead-based paint or as-bestos-containing material. In response to the an-nouncement, Rebecca Morley, Executive Director for the National Center for Healthy Housing said, “Thousands of children in Chicago schools have a history of lead poison-ing that is impairing their abilities to learn. Through this straightforward administrative change, city permitting officials can ensure that contractors will work safely with lead-based paint when they are renovating older homes. This ordinance also supports those contractors and workers who are already complying with the EPA regulation. This is a cost effective way to protect public health and ensure that workers are safe. We hope that many other cities will follow Chicago’s leadership.” The revisions to the ordinance include: a clarification that buildings must be inspected for asbestos before demoli-tion and debris must be properly disposed, procedural clarifications regarding the timing and form of asbestos notifications submitted to CDPH, and a new requirement for contractors to report compliance with already-existing federal lead-safe work practices before doing work that will disturb lead paint in pre-1978 child-occupied buildings. (Healthy Homes) Also on May 8, the Chicago Transit Board approved a vending contract with Ace Coffee Bar, Inc. to provide new healthy food vending machines. The contract requires that 75 percent of products sold meet CDPH’s guidelines for healthy snacks. The healthy vending machines will be located in over 29 CTA employee locations. This initiative is a response to Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Healthy Vending Challenge, which asks Chicago organizations to offer vending snacks that are lower in salt, sugar, and fat. Or-ganizations can download a healthy vending toolkit at http://tinyurl.com/c2w4d7p. (Obesity Prevention, Heart Disease and Stroke) UIC School of Public Health graduate students present

health assessment findings in Little Village.

Getting The Word Out

The 2013 Chicago Farmer’s Market schedule is now available. The first City-run markets selling fresh fruits, vegetables, plants and flowers opened Saturday, May 11. This year, two night markets will open in Logan Square and Uptown, and will include live performances and arts and crafts. Most markets are set to open in June. For more information, visit

chicagofarmersmarkets.us. (Obesity Prevention, Heart Disease & Stroke).

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the Department of Cultural

Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) just announced the schedule of Chicago Bike Week taking place June 10-14. Bicycling will be promoted through a PSA video contest and events, including a downtown bike tour, spin classes at Cloud Gate, a movie night in Millennium Park, and a Bike to Work Rally on Daley Plaza. For more infor-mation, go to bikechicago.us. (Obesity Prevention, Heart Disease and Stroke).

CDPH and the Illinois Maternal & Child Health Coalition

are hosting free community immunization education trainings in May, June, and July. The trainings are open to health care workers and community members. For more information, go to www.ilmaternal.org/caic/ciegtoolkit2013.html. (Communicable Disease Control and Prevention)

CDPH’s Bureau of Emergency Preparedness and Re-

sponse would like to encourage residents to volunteer with the Chicago Medical Reserve Corps. The Chicago Medical Reserve Corps helps ensure Chicago’s immedi-ate and coordinated response in the face of an emer-gency. Both medical professionals and non-medical pro-fessionals can volunteer to participate in the Chicago Medical Reserve Corps, which includes both emergency preparedness exercises and emergency response activi-ties. To learn more, go to http://tinyurl.com/cfqxagg. (Public Health Infrastructure)

Healthy Chicago Grant Opportunities Governor Pat Quinn and the Illinois Health Insurance

Marketplace have established a program to educate residents about Health Insurance Marketplaces. The program, called the In-Person Counselor program (IPC) will educate people about the new system, help them understand their health plan choices, and facili-tate their selection of the right plan for them. The Illinois Health Insurance Marketplace, in coordination with the Illinois Department of Public Health, will be accepting applications through 4PM CDT on May 30, 2013 from community groups and other qualified organizations who want to participate in IPC. Organi-zations that are selected through the online applica-tion process will participate in a training and certifi-cation process this summer. To learn more, go to

www2.illinois.gov/gov/healthcarereform/Pages/ IPC.aspx. (Access to Care) On May 9, Health and Human Services Secretary

Kathleen Sebelius announced new funding to help community health centers to provide in-person en-rollment assistance to uninsured individuals. All Chi-cago FQHCs will be eligible to apply. HRSA will award approximately $150 million under the FY 2013 Health Center Outreach and Enrollment Assistance funding opportunity through formula-based supplemental awards to eligible section 330 funded health centers. To view the announcement, go to http://bphc.hrsa.gov/outreachandenrollment/. (Access to Care)

Volunteers assisting at a flu clinic.