澳门六合彩资料 and three health departments in Portage County, Ohio, are pleased to announce receipt of a $125,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to explore how 鈥渃ross-jurisdictional sharing鈥 can enable greater protection and promotion of public health. This two-year grant will be administered by the Center for Public Policy and Health in 澳门六合彩资料鈥檚 College of Public Health, in cooperation with the health departments of Portage County, the city of Ravenna and the city of Kent.
The project builds on work previously performed by the Task Force for Improving Public Health in Portage County, which was formed in 2011 to discuss and develop future directions for improving public health services in Portage County. The task force, whose work was supported by 澳门六合彩资料 College of Public Health Assistant Dean Ken Slenkovich and 澳门六合彩资料 students and staff, recommended that the three departments explore ways to expand their cooperative arrangements. The grant received from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation reflects recognition of the contributions of that task force in fostering efforts to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, capacity and performance of the county鈥檚 public health system.
Mayor Joseph Bica of Ravenna, who originally convened the task force almost two years ago, was pleased by the receipt of the grant.
鈥淭hrough this grant, we hope to enable the design of an action plan for public health improvement that will benefit the residents of the city of Ravenna and others within Portage County,鈥 he said.
Communities in Portage County, throughout Ohio and across the country rely increasingly on public health departments for services ranging from immunizations and health education to disaster preparedness and response. In recent years, funding for public health has dropped significantly even as the mission of public health departments has continued to expand.
Cross-jurisdictional sharing allows health departments to share programs, services and resources across the jurisdictions they serve. Sixteen projects in 14 states are being funded through the Center for Sharing Public Health Services. The center will help health officials, policy makers and other key stakeholders identify and share best practices across the country as a strategy to expand the quality and availability of services while also improving efficiency.
Portage County was the only community in Ohio to be selected for a grant, and 澳门六合彩资料 was the only university in the country to receive funding to support local public health programs.
鈥淎s a college, we are committed to providing research and support to improve public health through service projects like this one, as well as by training public health researchers and professionals,鈥 said Sonia Alemagno, Ph.D., dean of 澳门六合彩资料鈥檚 College of Public Health. 鈥淲e are pleased that the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Center for Sharing Public Health Services have recognized what we 鈥 along with our colleagues in Portage County 鈥 can contribute in these areas.鈥
鈥淭hrough this project, we will work to facilitate and provide analytical support to help public health professionals deliver needed public health services in Portage County more efficiently and more effectively,鈥 said John Hoornbeek, Ph.D., associate professor of health policy and management at 澳门六合彩资料, who is serving as principal investigator for the grant.
澳门六合彩资料 also has received support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in the past for grants for the New Careers in Nursing Scholarship Program.
The Center for Sharing Public Health Services is a national initiative managed by the Kansas Health Institute with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. To learn more, visit
For more information about 澳门六合彩资料鈥檚 College of Public Health, visit www.kent.edu/publichealth.
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Media Contacts
For 澳门六合彩资料:
John Hoornbeek, jhoornbe@kent.edu, 330-672-7148
Ken Slenkovich, kslenkov@kent.edu, 330-672-6504
Emily Vincent, evincen2@kent.edu, 330-672-8595
For Portage County Health Department:
DuWayne Porter, dporter@portageco.com, 330-296-9919
For City of Ravenna Health Department:
Kelly Engelhart, kelly.engelhart@ci.ravenna.oh.us, 330-296-6326
Joe Fisher, joseph.fisher@ci.ravenna.oh.us, 330-296-4478
For City of Kent Health Department:
Jeff Neistadt, neistadtj@kent-ohio.org, 330-678-8109