Alvin Jackson Brings Public Health Perspective to White House
(Arlington, VA ) May 13, 2009 -- President Barack Obama met with Dr. Alvin Jackson, Director of the Ohio Department of Health, yesterday to discuss "Take Charge! Live Well!" an Ohio program that is reducing health risk factors for state workers. The meeting was part of President Obama’s initiative to meet with employers and unions whose health and wellness innovations have produced promising results. Jackson highlighted several Ohio public health programs including:
- Healthy Ohio, housed at ODH, is Gov. Ted Strickland’s initiative to improve the health and wellness of all Ohioans. Healthy Ohio focuses on personal wellness management and a health care delivery system that focuses on the promotion of health and the prevention of disease. This program has developed the Ohio Obesity Prevention Plan to put systems in place to allow Ohioans to learn, work and live in communities that support opportunities for physically active lifestyles and access to nutritious foods.
- The Center for Public Health Statistics and Informatics, housed at ODH, seeks to help solve health care problems by providing data about the health issues in their local communities to policy and decision makers. In Ohio, community health profiles are available outlining the factors affecting a community’s disease and injury burden include socioeconomic status, access to health care, age distribution and lifestyle behaviors.
- "Take Charge! Live Well!" is an Ohio Department of Administrative Services program that is reducing health risk factors for state workers.
Other participants included Dr. Jerry Reeves, Chief Medical Officer of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union Welfare Fund; Bill Weldon, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Johnson & Johnson; Cecily Hall, Director of US Benefits for Microsoft; Murray Martin, Chairman of the Board, President, and CEO of Pitney Bowes; Sally Jewell, President and CEO of REI; and Steve Burd, President and CEO of Safeway. According to a White House press release, the President will direct the Office of Personnel Management to work with the Office of Health Reform, the National Economic Council, the Department of Labor, and the Office of Management and Budget to examine the wellness and prevention programs that these organizations and others have used to lower health care costs and improve employees’ health. They will also explore the feasibility of developing a plan for federal employees and their workplaces.
Dr. Jackson was appointed Director of the Ohio Department of Health in June 2007 following a successful career with Community Health Services in Fremont, Ohio, where he provided primary medical care to rural residents and migrant workers since 1993 and served as medical director since 1995. He is a member of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) and sits on its Prevention Policy Committee and Health Reform Task Force.
Dr. Paul Jarris, Executive Director of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), said, “Dr. Jackson walks the talk. State and local public health officials know that expanding preventive programs and access to services is fundamental to achieving significant enduring health reform. Ohio’s‘Take Charge! Live Well!’ is a prime example of a program that can successfully slow the rise in medical costs, increase productivity, and improve the health of Americans.” Like most healthcare programs, Ohio’s focused on disease management up until 2005 when a study revealed that 44 percent of all costs were associated with preventable conditions. ASTHO and its members support a 21st Century health system that gives priority to prevention; supports healthy environments and lifestyles; provides, at a minimum, preventive and primary health care for every person; eliminates inequities in health status; and protects people and communities from existing and emerging health threats.
A recent ASTHO publication notes that: Investing in state and territorial public health systems is a direct investment in the health and wellness of the American people. The goal of public health is to foster a nation of healthy people who will help strengthen America’s economy by creating a more productive workforce and will lessen the burden on medical costs by lowering the need for intensive treatment for chronic diseases. Public health does this by:
- Incorporating positive opportunities for health, including physical activity and access to healthy food choices and protects Americans from the primary factors1contributing to heart disease, cancer, stroke, and injury - the leading causes of death and disability in America.
- Providing tools that enable individuals to take responsibility for their own health and encourages them to improve the health of their states and communities.
- Developing and implementing national, state, and local policies using science based evidence that promotes prevention and wellness.
- Taking action to reduce health disparities and improve the health of populations most at risk within the states, particularly women and children and racial and ethnic minorities.
- Working with a wide range of sectors (agriculture, transportation, education, Medicaid etc.2) to include health in all policies.
Contact: Paula Steib: 571-527-3173, 703-439-8259 (c)