Health District announces 2013 Public Health Heroes

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 22, 2013

LAS VEGAS – The Southern Nevada Health District announced its annual Public Health Heroes, recognition given to individuals or organizations whose efforts positively affect the health and well-being of the community. This year’s winners will be honored at the April 22 Southern Nevada District Board of Health meeting.

The 2013 Public Health Heroes are:

Clark County Juvenile Justice Services and Clark County Department of Family Services/Foster Care.
Named by the health district’s Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program, both of these youth services have worked with staff to reduce the rates of teen pregnancies in the community. During a two-year partnership, the two agencies and their staff have given health district staff access to youth in their care and have also provided feedback to health educators to improve outreach to teens who are at high risk for pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. In addition, they have provided referrals, offered adolescents additional incentives for their voluntary participation, and they have continually promoted teen pregnancy prevention to the youth that they serve. They have provided the health district with advice and counsel on the best ways to implement the curriculum and improve services to at-risk youth. As a result of this partnership, the Teen Pregnancy Prevention program provided services to more than 1,300 at risk youth in Clark County.

Sgt. Dan Lake, Emergency Management Coordinator, North Las Vegas Police Dept./Homeland Security Division
Sergeant Lake supports public health goals by working closely with the office of public health preparedness as it plans exercises and trainings designed to meet the needs of the community in an emergency and work to show the public a unified and coordinated response. He offers a law enforcement perspective that is incorporated into plans. His commitment is evident as he is a member of many emergency management committees and work groups. Lake also provides the health district opportunities to test its Cities Readiness Initiative points of distribution plan, which would offer immunizations or medications to the public in an emergency. He is a supporter of the Medical Reserve Corps and offers opportunities for its volunteers to participate in events and hone their incident management skills.

Linda Lopez / HMS Host International McCarran International Airport
Linda Lopez is food safety manager for HMS Host at McCarran International Airport. In her position, she manages more than 90 health permits at the airport, which serves more than 40 million passengers in a year. She demonstrates an uncompromising dedication to food safety that ranges from simple situations to complex and challenging tasks. Prior to the implementation of the health district’s new food regulations in 2010, Lopez developed and implemented internal protocols and policies to provide the appropriate education to her staff. In addition, she conducted her own research about the new regulations and evaluated the airport’s operating procedures and developed plans to have the airport adapt the new codes into its internal codes and procedures. Lopez is also an efficient educator and teaches ServeSafe classes for all the McCarran food handlers, including those who are not employed by HMS Host International. She is an advocate for food safety and is dedicated to protecting public health.

Public Health Heroes are nominated by health district staff members for their efforts in supporting one or more of the 10 Essential Public Health Services:

1. Monitor the health status to identify and solve community health problems.
2. Diagnose and investigate health problems and health hazards in the community
3. Inform, educate and empower people about health issues.
4. Mobilize community partnerships and action to identify and solve health problems.
5. Develop policies and plans that support individual and community health efforts.
6. Enforce laws and regulations that protect health and ensure safety.
7. Link people to needed health services, assure the provision of healthcare when unavailable.
8. Assure competent public and personal health care workforce.
9. Evaluate effectiveness, accessibility and quality of personal & population-based health services.
10. Research for new insights and innovative solution to health problems.

Updated information about the Southern Nevada Health District can be found on Facebook www.facebook.com/SouthernNevadaHealthDistrict, on YouTube www.youtube.com/SNHealthDistrict or Twitter www.twitter.com/SNHDinfo The health district is now available in Spanish on Twitter www.twitter.com/TuSNHD. Don’t have a Twitter account? Follow the health district on your phone by texting “follow SNHDinfo” to 40404.

Visit the Media Contacts webpage for media related inquiries.

The Southern Nevada Health District serves as the local public health authority for Clark County, Boulder City, Henderson, Las Vegas, Mesquite and North Las Vegas. The agency safeguards the public health of the community’s residents and visitors through innovative programs, regulations, and initiatives focused on protecting and promoting their health and well-being. More information about the Health District, its programs, services, and the regulatory oversight it provides is available at www.SNHD.info. Follow the Health District on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.