In an unprecedented chain of events, leadership personnel from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will be integrated into the Lake County General Health District (LCGHD). Roberta Erlwein, Branch Chief of the Center for State, Tribal, Local, and Territorial Support’s Performance, Development, Evaluation, and Training Branch, will be relocating to Lake County this month from Atlanta, Georgia, in order to work directly with LCGHD’s Office of Health Policy and Performance Improvement (OHPPI) staff in a CDC-funded capacity beginning April 15. An initial two-year period has been allocated, and the pilot project will focus largely on public health systems change and innovative practice opportunities, with aims to enhance communication and support between local and federal public health agencies.
According Ron Graham, Health Commissioner, “This is an incredible opportunity for Lake County. Roberta’s integration into OHPPI will serve to complement our current systems change efforts and methodologies, all while providing points of contact for federal networking, and current and future policy and practice initiatives. The expertise and collective wisdom Roberta brings to both our agency and our county is truly unmatched”.
Potential implications of this pilot project are far-reaching, and may serve to inform federal public health policy and practice pertaining to local public health needs, identify future federal investment strategies, and establish promising public health practices.
