An example of good government
By By Rep. Ronald Grantland, Guest Columnist
For some folks, the idea of “government” seems to conjure up something nefarious and uncontrollable. For the majority of us, we recognize that the government is “by and for the People,” and we expect competency and effectiveness for the services and actions it provides, and value for the tax dollars that are spent.
For the most part, we often don’t pay much attention to the workings of government agencies, and they often only come to light when something terrible has gone wrong. The opposite is also true. Some of the best work that our government does on a daily basis is never noticed.
One of the shining examples of good work on the state level is the Alabama Department of Public Health.
They do so much to affect quality of life, yet we rarely see or recognize the vast majority of their work.
Sure we see the health rating in the restaurant by the local county health inspector, or we may get a copy of a birth certificate of a child or grandchild from Public Health issued from Montgomery. These are everyday occurrences that we have come to expect, and we can see easily why they are important and how it affects our lives. Who wants to go into a restaurant that has a low health rating?
The Alabama Department of Public Health does so much more.
They are nationally recognized as running one of the best children’s health insurance programs in the nation. “ALLKids” is a low-cost, comprehensive healthcare coverage program for children under age 19. Its benefits include regular check-ups and immunizations, sick child doctor visits, prescriptions, vision and dental care.
The program is primarily funded by the federal government with a state match. Families are eligible when they don’t get health insurance at work and their income is too low to afford purchasing their own. The key is that Alabama insures more kids, and gets better health results from the children enrolled, than just about any other state. It is a terrific example of an effective program with an important goal: making sure kids stay healthy.
Another high-profile story that is being quietly and competently handled by Public Health is the H1N1 influenza, otherwise known as the “swine flu.” The department continues to monitor the virus throughout the state, collecting specimens and making tests to follow its spread.
While this particular flu hasn’t been as deadly as first feared, it could still be a major public health problem later on in the year. Dedicated state epidemiologists are following the cases, while the department and its staff are preparing the state plan for immunizations. If it gets to be a major epidemic, there are emergency plans for everything from hospitals to schools. It is a tremendous amount of work to prepare for a new flu strain, but each day the Alabama Department of Public Health is working to get our state prepared.
From emergency preparedness to monitoring hospital infection rates, from keeping track of prescription drug use, to following the healthiness of our food supply, the Alabama Department of Public Health goes about its business in a dedicated and capable manner.
