Internal Renovations Which Reflect a New Philosophy

What’s in a name?

Perhaps a program under any other name could serve as well. Or does what a name symbolizes and promotes make a difference?

For the DuPage County Health Department, new names for a 30-year-old organizational structure best symbolized the deeper changes undertaken and planned in 1997. Changes were anticipated before and after strategic planning. Changes included reorganization, re-definition of roles and positions, and program enhancements.

"The role of agencies such as ours in the 21st century will increasingly involve community-wide health assessment, planning and coordination, and expanded community education and outreach efforts," said Executive Director Dr. David R. McNutt. "We will provide direct services as the provider of last resort.

"Our reorganization plan heralds a change in philosophy and scope of mission for our department. Our name changes reflect this."

In a significant departure from 30 years of Health Department history, the Board of Health voted to change the names of the former four divisions.

• The Administration Division became Business Operations Services.
• The Environmental Health Division became Environmental Health Services.
• The Mental Health Division became Behavioral and Mental Health Services.
• The Nursing Division became Community Health Services.

"Our name changes begin to break down the walls which in the past have separated our programs," said Dr. McNutt. "Eliminating the word ‘division’ sheds the militaristic concept associated with it. The name changes set a climate for providing more integrated services for our customers, and fosters a more holistic approach."

Goal of Program Enhancements: Better Service for Our Community

The heart of the 1997 reorganization is program enhancements designed to provide these integrated services and better meet the county’s health needs. A prime example is a pilot program which provides psychiatric consultation and treatment to family practice patients at a community clinic. The pilot program is made possible through the shared vision and staff integration of Behavioral and Mental Health Services and Community Health Services, formerly the Mental Health and Nursing Divisions.

But that’s not all. The program is also a partnership with a private clinic in Bloomingdale subsidized by Central DuPage Health Systems to serve Medicaid participants and the medically indigent.

"We have a counselor and a psychiatrist available for consultation whenever we identify depression or a related disorder in our family practice," said Dr. Marty Russo, a family physician and Medical Director of the Clinic. "We see a variety of psycho/social needs. Our patients may be grieving, they may have lost their job, their insurance, their home. We now have a multi-disciplinary team which can offer consultation to our clinic staff, and counseling and case management to our patients."

" I am grateful for the opportunity to combine the efforts of the CDH Community Health clinic and the Health Department, " Dr. Russo said. "The one element we do not have is spiritual care, for those families who are interested. A network of pastoral counselors would be ideal to address that need."

Dr. Russo said that patients who need longer term care or more intense services will be referred to other clinics or agencies in the community. But short-term counseling and medication is available through the psychiatrist and counselor who are part of Behavioral and Mental Health Services. Plans are being made to hire a psychologist.

Other program enhancements designed in 1997 include:

• Emergency dental services for those who do not qualify for Medicaid but cannot afford low-cost treatment available through the referral service
• Abstinence-based education in schools to prevent teen pregnancy, sexually-transmitted diseases and date rape
• Intense, community-based services (using both medical and behavioral interventions) to prevent hospitalization for adult psychiatric patients experiencing acute symptoms
• Case management for adult mentally-ill substance abusers, with a focus on patient education, to avoid relapse
• Groundwater sampling project for bacteriological and chemical testing of the private wells which serve 10% of DuPage residents, to ensure quality drinking water
• Expansion of the food protection program to continue to assure the safe quality of food in over 3,100 food establishments
• Implementation of the Cornerstone data computer system required by the Illinois Department of Human Services for improved state-wide data collection and analysis
• Gerontology services to assure that medical, mental health and social service needs of the elderly are met
• Establishment of Healthy Families DuPage, a child abuse prevention program for teen mothers and their infants, through partnership with two private social service agencies: Meld Young Moms and Lifelink.

In addition, plans were made to upgrade the e-mail system to provide capacity for more users, a link with the County’s e-mail, and Internet and intranet capability. Medical records may also be centralized to support integration of services and enhance billing opportunities.

Blueprint Created for new Office of Planning, Education and Evaluation

The first reorganization design for better meeting the public health needs of the DuPage community creates a new office of planning, education and evaluation. A nationwide search is in progress for a director of planning, education and evaluation to head the new office. It will include health education, outcomes evaluation, epidemiology analysis, media relations and library/information services.

"The planning functions and operations must lay the groundwork for addressing the vision and mission of the department, and must have both an internal and a system-wide focus," said Dr. McNutt.

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