Home

Search Site

From the Executive Director...
Leland Lewis, B.S., M.B.A.

The DuPage County Health Department has amassed a record of accomplishments during our 54-year history in public health of which we are very proud. The challenges however, presented to this department as we enter the new millennium are daunting as our county fast approaches a major milestone – the one million mark in  population. With population growth comes more diversity in culture and language, broader ranges of incomes, vastly different levels of health needs, and a county workforce required to provide many widely varying tasks and services.


The state-mandated community-based Illinois Project for Local Assessment of Needs (IPLAN), forms the basis for department project priorities for this second five-year IPLAN cycle. This base line reference, accompanied by establishing performance standards and measuring outcomes of all existing and new programs, will drive the Health Department planning process and establish a focal point by which we will operate in the coming years. A five-year plan will be completed early next year and will be reviewed annually for updating. Planning and focusing on identified needs will be the major goals for the department.

After much tedious work, the Health Department completed a mission statement in 1999, which was approved by the Board of Health. The mission statement of the DuPage County Health Department is:

"The DuPage County Health Department promotes physical and emotional health; prevents illness, injury, and disability; protects health from environmental risk factors; and strives to assure the provision of accessible, quality service."

A motto was then developed as an expression of this mission. The motto of the DuPage County Health Department is:
"We promote health, prevent illness, and provide quality service."

Using the mission statement as our guiding principal, a department-wide vision for the operations of the health department will be developed. The mission and vision will be used interactively to guide the provision of services as we carry out our plan for the health needs of our residents.

Information about the DuPage County Health Department contained on our web site plus the links that have been provided to the world of health will give the reader a more complete and comprehensive picture of the complex topics that make up public health.

We have started the much-needed planning process and look forward to beginning the new century with renewed enthusiasm. We thank all those in the community with whom we have had the privilege to work this past year. We especially thank the Board of Health and the DuPage County Board for their continued leadership and support.

Leland Lewis, B.S., M.B.A.