Department of
Public Health
At a Glance
J. ROBERT GALVIN, M.D., M.P.H., Commissioner
Norma D. Gyle, R.N., Ph.D., Deputy Commissioner
Established – 1878
Statutory
authority - CGS Chap.
368a, Sections 19a-1a et seq.
Central office -
Number of
employees – 862
Recurring
operating expenses -
Federal: $124,884,704
State: $80,813,241
Additional
Funds: $1,602,523
Organizational
structure -
- Administration Branch
- Affirmative Action
Office
- Communications Office
- Government Relations Office
- Health Care Systems
Branch
·
Laboratory/Mobile
and
- Local Health
Administration Branch
- Multicultural
Health/Comprehensive Cancer Office
- Operations Branch
- Oral Public Health Office
- Planning Branch
- Public Health
Initiatives Branch
- Public Health Laboratory
- Regulatory Services
Branch
- Research and
Development Office
To
protect and improve the health and safety of the people of
Statutory
Responsibility
The Department of Public Health (DPH) is
the state’s leader in public health policy and advocacy. The agency is the center of a comprehensive
network of public health services, and is a partner to local health departments
for which it provides advocacy, training and certification, technical
assistance and consultation, and specialty services such as risk assessment
that are not available at the local level.
The agency is a source of accurate, up-to-date health information to the
Governor, the Legislature, the federal government and local communities. This information is used to monitor the
health status of
Public Service
Administration Branch
The Administration Branch assures that
department-wide administrative activities are coordinated and accomplished in
an effective and efficient manner. The
branch provides the following services across the agency:
Contracts and
Grants Management
- Provides oversight and
administration of approximately 650 contracts with total funding of
approximately $125 million.
- Provides support
services to the department in the following contracting areas:
training/education, fiscal oversight, compliance with state and federal
regulations, contract budget planning, and liaisons with the Office of
Policy Management, Office of the Attorney General, and the Department of
Administrative Services.
- Administers the Public
Health Foundation of Connecticut, Inc.
Fiscal Services
·
Administers budget planning and preparation, monitoring of state and
federal grant expenditures, revenue accounting, accounts payable/receivable,
and purchasing, including emphasis for procurement activities from small and
minority-owned vendors
·
Provides mail services and inventory control
Contract
Monitoring and Audit Section
Provides agency grantees and their
auditors a single point of contact for accounting and audit issues related to
grants and contracts. The unit also provides technical assistance to
contracting units within the Department of Public Health and monitors the final
financial settlement of agency grants and contracts.
Human Resources
Provides comprehensive personnel
management to the department, including labor relations for seven bargaining
units and managerial/confidential employees, recruitment, merit system
administration, performance appraisal review, statistical personnel status
reports, payroll, fringe benefit administration, classification work for
appropriate job titles, and Performance Assessment and Recognition System for
managers.
Public Health
Hearing Office
The Public Health Hearing Office presides
over hearings and renders decisions concerning:
·
Individual healthcare providers who do not have licensing boards
·
Appeals of orders issued by local health directors
·
The Women, Infants and Children’s (WIC) Program
·
Need for new or expanded service hearings concerning emergency medical
service providers
·
Disciplinary actions against day care and youth camp licensees, and
facility licensees (e.g., long-term care facilities)
·
Voluntary and involuntary transfers of water companies/Appeals of
orders issued to water companies
·
Involuntary discharges from long-term care facilities
·
The office also investigates all Commission on Human Rights and
Opportunities claims, provides support for 15 professional licensing boards,
responds to ethics questions, and ensures compliance with the Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA)
Affirmative
Action
DPH
is strongly committed to the principles, policies and practices of affirmative
action and equal employment opportunity in all agency programs and
services. The Affirmative Action Office
ensures that the agency is in compliance with all applicable state and federal
laws. The office provides quality
services, develops applicable policies and also implements other programs, such
as contract compliance, small business set-aside, employee assistance, and
Americans with Disabilities Act compliance.
Communications
The Office of Communications provides
comprehensive communications management to the department, including public
information and freedom of information oversight, media and community
relations, public education, website management, and risk communication
responsibilities.
Government
Relations
The Office of Government Relations is
responsible for the full range of legislative and regulatory activities,
including:
- Managing and developing
the department’s legislative and regulatory programs and implementing
strategies to achieve the goals of the department’s legislative agenda
- Coordinating the
development of the department’s regulations
- Acting as the
commissioner’s liaison to the General Assembly, congressional delegation,
community-based organizations, private sector organizations and other
public interest groups
- Coordinating the
maintenance of the Public Health Code
Health
Care Systems Branch
The Health
Care Systems Branch regulates access to the health care professions and provides
regulatory oversight of health care facilities and services. The branch protects public health by ensuring
competent and capable health care service providers. The branch consists of three major program
components, which have responsibility for implementing state licensure and
federal certification programs. The
branch has the authority to investigate and take disciplinary action against
providers, who are in violation of the law or otherwise pose a risk to public
health and safety.
The branch consists of the
following sections and programs:
Facility Licensing
& Investigations
·
Licensing, certification and investigations
of healthcare institutions, including:
·
Ambulatory care services
·
Clinical laboratories
·
Dialysis facilities
·
Home care and hospice services
·
Hospitals
·
Intermediate care facilities for the mentally
retarded
·
Nursing homes
·
Substance abuse and mental health treatment
facilities
Practitioner
Licensing and Investigations
·
Applications and examinations of health care
professionals for licensure
·
Investigations of licensed and certified
practitioners
·
Nurse aide registry
·
Physician profiles
Legal Office
·
Criminal background checks program
·
Prosecution of regulated entities
·
Legislative and regulatory support
Laboratory/Mobile and
The Laboratory/Mobile Field Hospital
Liaison is the Commissioner's liaison for agency bond projects. Current projects assigned to the liaison
include: the design and construction of
a new state-of-the-art Public Health Laboratory; the purchase and operational
development of a Mobile Field Hospital (Ottilie W. Lundgren Memorial Field
Hospital); and an initiative to improve isolation care capacity in acute
care hospitals statewide.
Local
Health Administration Branch
The Local Health Administration Branch is
the primary interface and liaison between the department and
- Advising the
commissioner on the approval of appointments of local director of health
and acting directors of health.
- Coordinating and
providing an orientation for new directors of health.
- Providing technical
assistance and consultation to Department of Public Health programs, local
health directors, local officials and residents on local public health
issues and health promotion activities.
- Administering per
capita grants-in-aid for LHDs.
- Planning and
coordinating the commissioner’s semi-annual meeting for directors of
health
- Maintaining a current
local health department / district database
- Collecting annual
reports from local health departments and analyzing data to monitor
activities to assure compliance with Connecticut Statutes.
- Working with local
health departments to integrate and promote integration of the National
Public Health Performance Standards.
- Maintaining and
developing
- Strengthening
- Providing guidance and
financial assistance to part-time health departments to become full-time
health departments or to form and/or join other health districts.
Multicultural
Health/Comprehensive Cancer
The Multicultural Health section is
responsible for improving the health of all state residents by eliminating
differences in disease, disability, and death rates among ethnic, racial and
cultural populations. The office may provide
grants for culturally appropriate health education demonstration projects and
apply for, accept, and spend public and private funds for these projects. It also may recommend policies, procedures,
activities and resource allocations to improve health among the state's racial,
ethnic, and cultural populations.
The Comprehensive Cancer section integrates the Comprehensive Cancer, Breast and
Cervical Cancer Early Detection, and Well-Integrated Screening and Evaluation
for Women Across the Nation (WISEWOMAN).
- The Comprehensive Cancer Program in collaboration
with the Connecticut Cancer Partnership, a broad and diverse group devoted
to cancer prevention and control, is implementing the Connecticut
Comprehensive Cancer Control Plan, which is a blueprint for addressing the
cancer prevention and control needs in
- The Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection
Program provides comprehensive breast and cervical cancer screening,
diagnostic services, and treatment referral services to medically
underserved and uninsured women in
- The WISEWOMAN Program provides cardiovascular
disease screening to women enrolled in the Breast and Cervical Cancer
Early Detection Program to reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease by
reducing the prevalence of cardiovascular disease risk factors.
Operations Branch
Emergency Medical Services
The Office of Emergency Medical Services
administers and enforces emergency medical services statutes, regulations,
programs and policies. Responsibilities
include:
·
Developing the Emergency Medical Services Plan and
training curriculum
·
Approving and overseeing the five Regional Emergency
Medical Services Council work plans and contracts
·
Regulatory oversight of licensing and certifying
emergency response personnel and licensing and certifying provider
organizations, facilities and approving sponsor hospital designations
·
Conducting complaint investigations
·
Coordinating Emergency Planning with the Department
of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (DEMHS)
·
Integrating statewide electronic
Informatics
·
Direct plans and information technology functions of
the agency. Responsibilities include
strategic planning, maintaining critical agency infrastructure and providing
help desk services to agency employees along with outside organizations with
interfaces to agency systems.
·
Work with the Department of Information Technology
to provide service level support for application development and infrastructure
to support programs.
·
Oversight and maintenance of over 100 application
support agency programs.
Public Health Preparedness
The Office of Public Health Preparedness
is responsible for the design, development and implementation of the
department’s public health emergency plans and initiatives. The office ensures compliance with state and
federal mandates with respect to public health preparedness, and is responsible
for identifying and securing grants in support of the state’s public health
preparedness efforts. Within the
department’s incident command structure, the office provides operational
management. This office also coordinates
the CDC Public Health Emergency Preparedness and HRSA Hospital Bioterrorism
grant submissions.
Oral
Health
The Office of Oral Public Health strives to
promote health and reduce disease and health disparities in Connecticut through
enhanced oral health and oral health care access. The office works to build the public health
infrastructure for oral health within the Department of Public Health and throughout
Connecticut in order to reduce the prevalence and impact of oral diseases and
conditions and to enhance oral health care access. Goals of the office also include implementing
effective, culturally appropriate oral health promotion and disease prevention
programs that adopt, adapt and enhance best practices. The office also works to centralize,
coordinate, enhance and integrate oral health data, information and monitoring
systems to detect disease, inform policy, and evaluate programs.
Planning
Branch
The Planning Branch is responsible for the
promotion, enhancement, and protection of: health data collection, monitoring,
analysis, and reporting; public health planning and policy development; and
training and professional development activities. The branch provides information and support
for collaborative health policy decisions, integrated state health planning
activities, and coordinated training programs.
The branch consists of four sections:
CT Tumor Registry
and Epidemiological Research
- Maintains the
Connecticut Tumor Registry, a population-based resource for examining
cancer patterns in Connecticut. The
registry’s electronic database of over 814,000 cancers includes all
reported tumors diagnosed in Connecticut residents from 1935 through 2004,
as well as treatment, follow-up and survival data. All hospitals and
private pathology laboratories in Connecticut are required by law to
report cancer cases to the registry. State confidentiality laws restrict
access to the identities of all patients reported to the registry. The registry is also one of only ten
statewide, federally funded Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results
(SEER) sites in the country, selected by the National Cancer Institute for
their ability to manage a cancer reporting system. SEER data are believed to be generally
representative of cancer rates for the entire United States.
- Provides epidemiologic
consultation to programs within the department and other agencies doing
public health research
- Oversees review and
approval of research applications from researchers who want to use
department data
Health Information
Systems and Reporting
- Maintains the statewide
registry for births, deaths, marriages and civil unions
- Maintains the state
paternity registry and collaborates with the Department of Social Services
and obstetric hospitals to encourage unwed couples to establish
paternity
- Processes all adoptions
for Connecticut-born children, foreign-born children adopted by
Connecticut residents, and adoptions finalized in Connecticut
- Proposes legislation,
develops appropriate procedures and systems to support the implementation
of the Federal Intelligence Reform Act and the Real ID Act of 2005
- Analyzes and reports on
vital statistics, hospital discharge, and hospital quality of care
data. Collects medical and
demographic data for morbidity and mortality research, public health
planning, and the annual registration report
- Manages all federal and
state reporting for the Preventive Health and Health Services block grant
- Administers the
national Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey
- Administers the CT
School Health Survey
- Oversees the Health
Professional Shortage Area and National Interest Waiver processes
- Manages the Biomedical
Research Program
- Calculates, certifies,
and publishes the annual population estimates of 169 Connecticut
municipalities for years between the decennial U.S. census enumerations
- Surveillance of
cardiovascular diseases and diabetes
- Improving the
infrastructure for data and surveillance related to health disparities
State Health
Planning
- Provides support and technical assistance to the department, other
state agencies and policymakers in assessing public health resource needs
and setting public health priorities
- Develops and manages workgroups to assure comprehensive and
coordinated planning processes within the department
- Develops and maintains the State’s Health Plan and Public Health
Emergency Response Plan
- Conducts hospital and managed care surveys as part of the Community
Benefits Reporting Program
- Assesses health status and health
services of Connecticut residents as part of the Healthy Connecticut 2000
and 2010 projects
- Manages and administers the department’s
Virtual Office of Genomics
Workforce and
Professional Development
- Enhances public health
worker competencies through the creation of a DPH Training Center
- Supports and promotes
preparedness and response training opportunities
- Enhances distance
learning technology and promote online learning opportunities
- Evaluates training and
education provided to the public health workforce
- Monitors public health
and health care workforce issues
Public
Health Initiatives Branch
The Public Health Initiatives Branch improves and protects the health of
Connecticut's residents using a variety of methods: a) through the promotion of primary and
preventive health care at every stage of life and through the identification of
risk factors that contribute to chronic and infectious diseases; b) through the collection of data to assess
and improve individual and population health; c) through disease surveillance
and linked intervention activities such as patient counseling, public
education, provision of vaccines or medicines, organization of special clinics;
and d) through planning and development of a flexible emergency-response
capability to address emerging disease problems such as West Nile virus and
possible bioterrorism events such as anthrax or smallpox.
The branch consists of the following
sections:
AIDS and Chronic
Diseases
- HIV/AIDS Prevention
Program
- HIV/AIDS Surveillance
and Viral Hepatitis Program
- Cardiovascular Health
Program
- Data Management and
Administrative Support
- Health Care and Social
Services
Family Health
- Children and Youth with
Special Health Care Needs
- Adolescent Health
- School-based Health
Centers
- Newborn Screening
(metabolic and hearing)
- Case Management for
Pregnant Women
- Family Planning
- Community Health
Centers
Health Education,
Management and Surveillance
- Women, Infant and
Children (WIC) Supplement Food Program
- Nutrition Education Program
- Obesity Prevention Program
- Asthma Prevention
Program
- Tobacco Use Prevention
and Control Program
- State Loan Repayment
Program
Infectious
Diseases
Encompasses programs for:
- Surveillance for
emerging infections and more than 50 acute communicable diseases including
conditions potentially associated with bioterrorism, outbreak detection,
and investigation
- Prevention of perinatal
infectious diseases, vaccine-preventable diseases, sexually transmitted
diseases and tuberculosis
- Public health
intervention response planning for bioterrorism and public health
infectious disease emergencies
- Epidemiology Program
- Immunization Program
- Sexually Transmitted
Diseases Program
- Tuberculosis Diseases
Program
Public
Health Laboratory
The
Public Health Laboratory supports the needs of all communities in the state by
the analysis of human clinical specimens and environmental samples submitted by
federal and state agencies, local health departments, the health care
community, utilities and environmental engineering firms. Analytical data are used to monitor for
agents harmful to the public, identify the cause of outbreaks, and assure that
control measures (i.e. vaccines, antibiotics, insect spraying) are effective. The laboratory is comprised of the following
testing units:
Biological Sciences – tests for infectious agents in humans, animals, food and water,
provides reference testing in support of epidemiological investigations, serves
as the state’s response laboratory for the identification of biothreat agents,
tests all Connecticut newborns for the presence of 42 inherited disorders that
cause severe mental and/or physical illnesses.
Environmental Chemistry – tests for over 100 toxic chemical agents in drinking water; in
rivers, lakes and streams; in wastewater, landfills, spills, soils and air; in
consumer products and other materials where there is human exposure. This unit also provides monitoring of the
nuclear power industry and is part of the state’s nuclear response team.
Biomonitoring – tests for the presence of toxic chemicals in human clinical
specimens. Serves as the state’s
response laboratory in an event where the public is exposed to a Weapons of
Mass Destruction (WMD) or other toxic chemicals. Supports the Connecticut Poison Control
Center and the department biomonitoring studies. Tests approximately 55,000 children each year
for the presence of elevated lead from exposure to old paint, folk medicines or
other environmental sources.
Regulatory Services Branch
The Regulatory Services Branch has
regulatory oversight of the state’s drinking water systems, child day care
facilities, youth camps and environmental services. Programs include licensure, investigation,
and enforcement action against suppliers/providers that are in violation of the
law or otherwise pose a risk to public health and safety. The branch also operates prevention programs
focusing on health education. Technical
assistance to licensed providers is a priority.
The branch
consists of:
Community Based Regulation Section
Licensing,
technical assistance, and investigations of facilities, including:
- Child Day Care centers
- Group Day Care homes
- Family Day Care homes
- Youth camps
Environmental Health Section
- Asbestos Program
- Environmental
Engineering Program (On-Site Subsurface Sewage Systems, Mausoleums,
Crematories, Private Burial Grounds)
- Environmental
Laboratory Certification Program
- Environmental and
Occupational Health Assessment Program
- Environmental
Practitioner Licensure Unit
- Food Protection Program
- Lead Poisoning
Prevention and Control Program
- Private Wells Program
- Radon Program
·
Recreation Program
Drinking Water Section
The Drinking Water Section (DWS) maintains
oversight of public water systems for water quality monitoring and reporting,
approval of treatment, infrastructure upgrades, new sources, source water
protection, and completion of sanitary surveys.
The section is comprised of five functioning units, which include:
Certification
- Treatment Plant and Small Water System Operators
- Oversight of Operator Certification Program for Distribution System
Operators
- Oversight of Backflow Prevention Device Testers and Cross Connection
Survey
- Inspectors
Compliance
- Monitoring, Reporting & Enforcement
- Implementation & Response
- Capacity Review &
Standards
- Technical Review
Programs
· Data Management
· Drinking
Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF)
· Grant/Contract Development
· Public Outreach
· Report Development
· Security & Emergency
Response
Source
Water Protection
·
Liaison and Source Water Protection Planning
·
Site Assessment and Review
·
Permitting, Education and Training
Water Utility Coordinating Committee
- Discussion among water utility representatives
and local officials regarding long-range water supply issues.
Research and
Development
- Genomics and Public Health
- Embryonic and Human Adult Stem Cell Research
- Stroke Prevention and Cardiovascular Health
- Umbilical Cord Blood Bank Feasibility Study
Improvements/Achievements 2005-06
Government Efficiency and Performance
- Designed,
implemented and managed the consumer friendly web page dedicated to the
State’s Stem Cell Research Program.
- Issued a Request for Proposals for the first $20 million in public
funding in support of embryonic and human adult stem cell research.
- Convened Connecticut’s International Stem Cell Research Peer
Review Committee.
- Marketed and branded Connecticut as an International Center of
Excellence for Stem Cell Research at the 4th Annual
International Society for Stem Cell Research Symposium held in Toronto,
Ontario, Canada.
- DPH has embarked on a project to design and build a new
state-of-the-art Public Health Laboratory.
A bonding authorization of $50 million is in place to fund this
project. An Environmental Impact
Evaluation (EIE) has been completed and a Record of Decision has been
submitted to the Office of Policy and Management. Bond funds have been allocated for
design, and pre-design work is in progress.
- DPH has purchased and equipped a Mobile Field Hospital, the Ottilie W. Lundgren Memorial
Field Hospital. The
field hospital will enhance surge capacity and isolation care in the event
of an infectious disease outbreak or
other public health emergency. This
facility is currently being used for training, exercises, and drills for
Disaster Medical Assistance Team and for the department’s public health,
health care, and emergency response partners. An Advisory Board of Directors has been
convened, and policies and procedures for deployment and operation of the
hospital are being developed.
- The Public Health Laboratory is conducting a project to replace
its Laboratory Information Management System
(LIMS), which is now almost 30 years old.
A Request for Proposals has been issued, and an evaluation team is
presently evaluating these
proposals and developing a recommendation for procurement.
- During the past year
the Local Health Administration Branch has been working to build
Connecticut’s public health infrastructure to provide full-time health
services to the residents of Connecticut.
Currently Connecticut has 82 health departments, 49 that are
full-time health departments/districts and 33 that are part-time. As a result of these efforts, the
following part-time health departments have joined a health district;
Roxbury, Bridgewater, East Lyme, Bozrah, Sprague, Bethany, and Newington. In addition a new Health District was
formed called the Connecticut River Area Health District which includes
the Towns of Clinton, Deep River and Old Saybrook. Connecticut now has full-time health
services serving 92 percent of the population (3,214,770 people).
- The department produced
the report Hospital Performance
Comparisons: A Report on Quality of Care in Connecticut Hospitals in
an ongoing effort to provide standardized, useful, and valid information
to the public about hospital quality of care and to promote quality
improvement efforts within hospitals.
Included in the report are comparisons among acute-care hospitals
in Connecticut about how often they provide the recommended care to
patients who have been diagnosed with a heart attack, heart failure, or
pneumonia.
- The department
completed the second round of review of Biomedical Research
proposals. Five researchers were
funded for a total of $1,359,095.
- A formal graduate
public health field experience program was established with the University
of Connecticut and Southern Connecticut State University. The program allows students to integrate
knowledge and classroom skills with practice in a real public health
setting. A student intern handbook
was developed to streamline the process for selecting students and
projects, and students attend one of two student orientation sessions per
year where department programmatic staff describes essential
responsibilities of a state public health agency.
- Implemented a
supervisory/management training program, Putting the Pieces Together,
and a Leadership training program, Leading the Way. These are skill development certificate
programs open to both state and local public health employees. The programs were developed based on the
results of a training needs assessment.
- Published the Education
and Training Course Catalogs for state and local public health workers and
preparedness partners. The Course
Catalog is published three times per year and includes over 70 course
offerings including instructor led courses, web-based self study programs,
and information on public health and business certificate programs
available to the workforce.
·
TRAINConnecticut,
the web-based learning management system for public health and health care
professionals, has doubled in size during the past year to over 7,800 learner
accounts. State and local public health
workers and preparedness partners use the system to find and register for
education and training programs. System
functions have improved significantly with the addition of assessment and
evaluation tools, community training calendar, and batch registration
utilities.
- The Virtual Children’s Health Bureau at DPH created an internal
Children’s Health Cabinet to promote better collaboration among child
health programs within DPH.
- Assembled a planning workgroup with occupational health
stakeholders in our state representing academia, private sector employers,
employee unions, labor lawyers, the insurance industry, and worker safety
and health advocacy groups to help advise DPH on an occupational health and
safety program agenda for the coming years.
- Served on a National Academy of Science panel to review the status
of human biomonitoring programs and debriefed United States Environmental
Protection Agency, Centers for Disease Control and Congress on ways to
improve biomonitoring efforts in this country.
- A statewide radon
initiative was made with implementation of the Radon Measurement in
Schools Protocol. The initiative included training for school staff
and the radon measurement workforce on the new protocols, outreach to
school districts and the Connecticut Schools and Building Grounds
Association. Over 80% of the 1200 public schools in Connecticut have yet
to complete radon testing by 2008.
·
Conducted several Soils Training Workshops
for local health officials, engineers, subsurface sewage disposal system
installers, and other interested parties. The course offers a complete overview
of practices related to design and construction of small subsurface sewage
disposal systems with a focus on soils.
The training includes topics on identifying soil texture, color and
horizons, landscape position, site hydraulics, geographical formations, using
soil maps and identifying restrictive layers for sewage disposal systems. Properly characterizing the soil is the first
step in siting a system and ensures a viable long-term solution to wastewater
disposal.
·
Developed an electronic data interchange
program to accept water quality data electronically from water testing
laboratories and public water systems to more efficiently receive, process and
evaluate regulatory compliance data.
·
Developed tools to optimize web
architecture for navigability and to assist public drinking water systems to
obtain current water quality testing schedules, regulatory information and
forms. Public drinking water system personnel have the ability to register
on-line for operator training courses, view newsletters, regulatory information
essential to more efficiently operate and ensure safe drinking water to the
public.
- Conducted five public drinking
water system training seminars to increase the knowledge and capability of
the states 1,300 certified drinking water system operators and certified
83 new operators in the past year.
- Facilitated strategic
water supply planning meetings at several municipalities, such as
Brookfield, to foster the consolidation of municipally owned public water
systems in an effort to resolve the public health concerns at
non-compliant systems.
- Assisted the University
of Connecticut with the refinement of operational measures to increase
efficiency and performance of the University’s drinking water system.
- Sponsored three regional
forums to promote interconnections between large community water systems
and the consolidation of small non-viable water systems. Forty-one (41) small public water
systems were also consolidated across the State in the past fiscal year.
- Participated with EPA
national headquarters in developing a brochure related to capacity
development of small public water systems. Two (2) of the six (6) case
studies appearing in the nationally distributed brochure highlight success
stories from CT.
- Migrated agency to MS
Outlook State Enterprise email system, providing improved internal
controls and establishing secure outside web access to email.
- Developed a new “Inventory Control Management System” for the
agency’s Bio-terrorism/Strategic National Stockpile (BT/SNS) drills.
·
Developed a new in-house task
tracking system to manage, measure, monitor and support all IT activities thus
improving processes for defining IT priorities and milestones.
·
Implemented electronic data
interface between DPH and DCF for timely identification of Daycare employee
applicants on the DCF child abuse registry.
- In conjunction with the Department of Information Technology:
- installed and tested the Connecticut Electronic Disease
Surveillance System to improve time to detection of reportable disease
events,
- automated the ability of laboratories to send test results
electronically to improve timeliness of reporting
- migrated immunization registry and tracking system to a web-based
application
- migrated the Health Alert Network to an EWTA compliant platform.
- Established Public Health Information Network (PHIN) workgroup to
identify and manage migration of multiple agency systems to PHIN compliant
architectural guidelines established by the CDC to ensure compatibility of
data across systems.
Public Health
Preparedness
- DPH sponsors the
federally recognized CT-1 Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT). The DMAT team has been expanded to 140
Members and had four local and eight federal deployments.
- DPH received $8.5
million in bonding money and purchased a 100-bed Mobile Field Hospital
(MFH). The MFH will enhance surge
capacity and isolation care in the event of an infectious disease outbreak
or other public health emergency.
This facility will also be used for training, exercises, and drills
for Disaster Medical Assistance Team and for the department’s public
health and health care partners.
- DPH
planned and participated in a week long Strategic National Stockpile,
full-scale exercise. Approximately 300 governmental and non-governmental
agencies and departments participated in and supported the exercise at
venues statewide. This was the
first exercise to use the state’s plans and procedures to receive,
distribute and dispense SNS supplies in response to a statewide
bio-terrorism incident; the first major full scale public health exercise
in the state; and the first to
adopt the federal Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program
recommendations. The DPH command center was activated to coordinate the
receipt, storage and delivery of emergency supplies to local points of
dispensing (PODs) and hospitals. PODs and hospitals
successfully activated and conducted emergency dispensing
operations of SNS.
- DPH maintained its
capabilities for early detection of, and response to, possible terrorist
events and outbreaks, including the special daily hospital admissions
surveillance, rash illness surveillance to assure the early detection of
smallpox, gram positive rod surveillance for the early detection of human
anthrax, and a network of 18 emergency departments which send chief
complaint data on a daily basis to provide information which can be
readily used to determine whether outbreaks are occurring and monitor the
course of a large-scale public health event. In SFY 2006, these systems identified
and followed-up on 392 possible anthrax cases and 99 possible smallpox
cases, and were used to monitor the impact of the influenza season on the
health care system. In addition, 11 food-related outbreaks were
investigated.
·
Working with our local health partners, maintained a statewide database
that lists more than 9,000 persons who would be called up to assist in mass
vaccination or antibiotic distribution by local health departments should it be
needed.
·
Provided over 100 public health preparedness courses and training
sessions with approximately 3,800 attendees.
Programs covered key preparedness content areas and core skills such as
incident command systems, risk communications, basic epidemiology and
surveillance, mass dispensing and emergency response protocols, worker safety,
biological and chemical agents, and information technology.
- Refined the DPH
Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Plan in February 2006 and released it for
public comment.
- Initiated a vulnerability assessment that
evaluates the state's major users of toxic chemicals and hazardous
materials in terms of potential risks to the public should there be an
accidental or terrorist release. This
effort has involved a planning committee that includes the Dept. of
Homeland Security and other law enforcement and regulatory agencies.
- Implemented a Drinking Water Emergencies
Assessment and Response team trained in Incident Command and emergency
response procedures related to drinking water systems.
- Conducted quarterly meetings of the Drinking
Water Emergency and Security Advisory Committee comprised of
representatives of the drinking water industry, FBI, U.S. Dept. of
Justice, local health, Dept. of Emergency Management and Homeland
Security, DEP, EPA, and Infragard.
Health Promotion and
Disease Prevention
·
Conducted a
statewide media, outreach and communications campaign for National Radon Action
Month (January 2006). The campaign was conducted in collaboration with the
American Lung Association, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and
several local health departments throughout the state. Components of the campaign included a
gubernatorial proclamation (January as Radon Action Month), media coverage
(newspaper, radio and television), advertising slicks, payroll stuffers to all
(17,000+) state employees, local health departments’ distribution of
educational materials and radon test devices to local citizens, a ½-day
conference, and the development and posting of large banners in two prominent
locations in the city of Hartford.
·
Developed a
six-page educational brochure for restaurant owners, managers, and employees to
educate them on how to avoid the most common work-related injuries occurring in
restaurants, including burns, lacerations, sprain/strain injuries, and
slip/trip/fall-related injuries.
·
Developed a
pamphlet and sign for the supermarket fish counter that guides consumers to the
best fish to eat and those to avoid because of contaminants such as mercury and
PCBs. DPH is focus group testing these
materials and plans to work with the food retailing industry in getting this
information to the public.
·
Created a new school indoor air-teaching module called Tools for
TECHS in collaboration with the State Department of Education, University
of CT Division of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, and AFT Teachers
Union. This module was created
specifically for technical high schools and was designed to closely resemble
the US EPA’s Tools for Schools program for traditional schools.
·
Have trained 580 schools in 93 school districts in the implementation
of EPA’s Tools for Schools IAQ program. Over 2,900 school staff, parents
and students have been trained. According to EPA, Connecticut leads the nation
in the number of documented schools utilizing the Tools for Schools
program.
·
Continued a very successful community outreach effort for residents in
the Newhall Neighborhood in Hamden whose homes were built on hazardous landfill
waste. During home visits, residents
were provided fact sheets about exposure and risk and were given the
opportunity to discuss their soil testing results. The effort also included an
evaluation component to assess how effective the outreach program has been in
communicating exposure and risk information.
·
In collaboration with the Danbury, Hartford, and Meriden Health
Departments, the Lead Action for Medicaid Primary Prevention Project, and
community partners implemented a multifaceted public health initiative to
address childhood lead poisoning within high-risk urban neighborhoods in
Danbury, Hartford, and Meriden. The
initiative focused on primary prevention, screening, community education and
outreach, case management, hazard identification and remediation, and public
health surveillance. ConnectiCare
provided funding through the Public Health Foundation of Connecticut, Inc for
the project. The initiative was designed to provide preventative
environmental health services to targeted geographic areas that have
demonstrated increased risk for lead exposure and lead poisoning. By August 2006 over 800 children had blood
lead screening tests through this initiative.
·
In collaboration
with the University of Connecticut, developed a video that provides property
owners and do-it-yourselfers with information about potential sources of lead
exposure and lead hazards that may be encountered during renovation and
repainting projects in older residential properties. The video provides guidance on work
techniques that will reduce the potential for lead exposure to children,
occupants, and workers by using five steps to lead safety. The video is available in English and
Spanish. Norm Abram, Master Carpenter of PBS’s This Old House and host
of PBS’s New Yankee Workshop introduces the video.
·
Collaborated with Groton Utilities and surrounding municipalities in the
development of a Drinking Water Quality Management Plan for the protection of
public drinking water sources in southeast Connecticut
·
Connecticut currently has 92 health professional shortage areas (HPSA)
designations representing all or part(s) of 36 towns in each of the state's
eight counties.
·
Connecticut currently has 39 Medically Underserved Area (MUA)
designations representing all or part(s) of 31 towns in each of Connecticut's eight
counties.
·
Completed a technical strategic plan to create the HIP-Kids data
warehouse, and secured federal funds to begin implementation. Data from existing child health databases
maintained within DPH will be linked to create a single comprehensive child
health profile, a composite of linked child health information, which will be
available on an on-going basis for health surveillance and monitoring.
·
Released results from the Connecticut School Health Survey (CSHS) in
the spring of 2006. The CSHS is a joint
effort with the Connecticut State Department of Education and provides
information on health risk behaviors that contribute markedly to the leading
causes of death, disability, and social problems among youth and adults in the
United States. The CSHS asks questions
of Connecticut high school students in grades nine-12 in the following topic
areas: tobacco use, dietary behaviors, physical activity, alcohol and other
drug use, sexual behaviors, behaviors that contribute to unintentional injuries
and violence. Middle school students are
asked questions about tobacco use and attitudes toward tobacco. Results of the CSHS can be viewed at http://www.dph.state.ct.us/PB/HISR/CSHS.htm
·
Posted the following reports on the DPH website: Mortality
and Its Risk Factors in Connecticut, 1989-1998, Connecticut Resident Mortality Summary Tables by Gender, Race, &
Hispanic. Ethnicity, 1999-2001, “Diabetes Preventive Care Practices,”
“Facts About Stroke in Connecticut,” and the Connecticut Hospital Stroke Care
Survey report.
·
Launched the Connecticut Health Disparities Project with funding
support from the Connecticut Health Foundation.
The project will improve the statewide infrastructure for documenting,
reporting and addressing health disparities among racial and ethnic minority
residents of Connecticut.
·
Implemented the Genomics Action
Plan, and created the
Expert Genomics Advisory Panel that is developing implementation strategies for
various components of the plan.
Distinguished genomic scholars and practitioners within Connecticut and
nationally were recruited for membership.
·
The DPH Virtual Office of Genomics was successful in applying for
another three-year cycle of HRSA funding through the New England Consortium for
Genomics Education. Priorities of the
Virtual Office include informing medical practitioners about the Family Health
History Project sponsored by the US Department of Health and Human Services and
the production of an educational guide for the general public.
·
The department’s Connecticut Tumor Registry participated in a National
Cancer Institute (NCI) funded Patterns of Care Study across SEER registries.
Tumor Registry data were supplemented by contacting physicians regarding
treatment for Connecticut residents diagnosed with cancers of the head and
neck, kidney, and breast. These data will be analyzed by NCI to examine
treatment patterns and trends as well as changes in survival of cancer
patients.
·
The DPH Immunizations Program received an award at the National
Immunization Conference for achieving an 88 % immunization coverage rate for
two-year-old children. This is the 6th time in the last 10 years,
and the 3rd consecutive year, that Connecticut has been recognized
for having one of the nation’s highest immunization rates.
·
During 2005, the rate of gonorrhea decreased another 4 percent,
achieving an all-time low in Connecticut.
·
During 2005, a total of 95 TB cases were reported. This case count continues a recent downward
trend and is the lowest ever reported in Connecticut. At the same time, approximately 3,000
individuals with latent TB infection were placed on preventive treatment using
state-supplied antibiotics.
·
Beginning January 2006, a new surveillance system was established to
monitor the extent to which a new highly toxigenic strain of Clostridium
difficile has spread from hospitals to the community. C. difficile causes severe intestinal
disease, usually as a complication of taking antibiotics in persons who are
already asymptomatic carriers.
·
A new vaccine against Hepatitis A was added to the list of vaccines
routinely supplied by the state for Medicaid-eligible and uninsured children.
The vaccine protects children 12-23 months of age. A new vaccine for Tetanus,
diphtheria, and acellular pertussis was added for all adolescents regardless of
their insurance status. The vaccine protects adolescents 11-18 years of
age.
·
DPH maintained and enhanced two recently begun new disease surveillance
projects: HIV incidence, intended to provide estimates of the number of new HIV
infections in Connecticut by the end of 2006; and behavioral surveillance,
intended to provide information about trends in behavior that place Connecticut
residents at high risk for HIV infection.
This information will be useful in the future to assist in evaluating
and targeting HIV prevention initiatives.
·
The DPH’s Early Childhood Partners Project (HRSA grant) created an
outcome-driven strategic and implementation plan to assure children are healthy
and ready for school by age five. ECP
achievements in 2005-2006 included participation on the Connecticut Early
Childhood Education Cabinet, training of child care health consultants through
the CT Nurses Association, advocacy training of parents and providers through
the Commission on Children and Parent Leadership Training Institute,
collaboration with the Children’s Trust fund to conduct Ages and Stages
workshops held in Hartford and New Haven, and the creation of the ECP website:
www.ecpartners.org
·
Implemented an expanded viral hepatitis surveillance program that
includes hepatitis A, B, and C registries with follow-up to obtain information
about possible sources of infection, and to provide recommendations to
providers about prevention. Information
from this system can be found on the DPH website. The Public Health Laboratory
conducted a pilot project to provide hepatitis C testing to medically
underserved persons.
·
Expanded implementation of ConnectiFIT, a workplace wellness program
to Department of Administrative Services employees.
· The Obesity Program was one
of thirteen states awarded a National Governors Association Grant to improve
the health and well being of Connecticut's largest workforce.
·
Developed, in collaboration with the School of Allied Health at UCONN,
three undergraduate dietetics supervised practice courses to enhance student
achievement and competence in knowledge and skills germane to public health
nutrition. Curriculum included linkages between public health agencies,
community-based initiatives, and academia—with the focus on the elements of
service, teaching and research.
·
DPH funded eight of the ten asthma-planning regions in the state to
conduct community-level asthma activities.
Funding of these regions will help ensure that the recommendations made
in the Statewide Asthma Plan are implemented at the community level. The
Asthma Program held a statewide asthma conference attended by a diverse
audience of medical providers, public health professionals, and nurses that
provided updates for treatment guidelines and programs within CT from both
state and national asthma experts.
· Published Asthma in CT 2005,
Surveillance Report. This report identified a higher incidence of asthma in
women, Hispanic and black populations and those in lower socioeconomic
levels. The report will assist the program in targeting its efforts to improve
asthma diagnosis and management of those most in need.
·
The Injury Prevention Program facilitated the Interagency Suicide
Prevention Network, which completed the Comprehensive Suicide Prevention
Plan. The program has received a core injury program grant from the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Major grant activities
include development of an injury surveillance system and a state injury
prevention plan that addresses unintentional and intentional injuries
across the life span.
·
DPH completed the required Maternal and Child Health Five-Year Needs
Assessment identifying nine priority needs among the three population
groups: pregnant women and infants;
children and adolescents; and child and youth with special health care
needs. These nine priority needs will be
addressed in the next five years through planned activities and strategies to
improve the health and well being among these population groups.
·
DPH received a one-year grant to implement a statewide multi-media,
multi-lingual perinatal depression screening awareness campaign. The campaign included community based
provider trainings on screening for perinatal depression, hospital grand rounds
and a series of radio, television and print (billboards, newspaper, bus panels
and movie trailer) advertisements throughout the state.
Health Care Quality and
Regulatory Standards
·
DPH has reevaluated its entire internal process for investigating and
disciplining physicians and other licensed health care providers and has
implemented additional measures to promote regulatory fairness, efficiency and
effectiveness.
·
The department instituted a number of reforms, including adding
investigative staff and physician consultants to enhance the timeliness and
quality of the review and investigation of complaints concerning quality of
care. DPH also established
an internal quality assurance review committee comprised of non-physician
health care professionals, as well as lay staff, which reviews pending
cases to determine if proposed remedies are appropriate to protect the
public.
·
DPH continues to expand information available
on its website concerning regulatory programs, including healthcare
practitioner boards and online filing of complaints against licensed
practitioners or entities.
·
Connecticut has been selected as a pilot
state for the federal Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) Quality
Improvement Survey Demonstration Project.
DPH currently has two survey teams performing Quality Improvement Survey
(QIS) and plans on expanding this model of the survey process.
·
DPH has initiated quarterly meetings with
multiple provider groups to discuss mutual issues of interest and concern.
·
DPH has revised several provider regulatory
requirements to reflect current standards.
·
DPH continues to participate in the
enhancement of healthcare through the Quality of Healthcare Committee. In 2006, an educational program was initiated
for citizens to carry wallet sized medication cards, which reflect current
medications and allergies.
·
The Legal Office received for fiscal year
2005-2006: 509 cases for prosecution and
disposed of 495 cases, either by settlement, Memorandum of Decision, Voluntary
Surrender of License or dismissal. In
addition, the background check program processed for fiscal year 2005-2006: 25,936 federal and state applicant fingerprint
cards and DCF authorizations.
·
DPH created and distributed brochures and
wallet cards for parents to help them assess the quality of child day care
programs
·
Analyzed
occupational illness and injury data as well as the distribution of the
Connecticut workforce among industry sectors for the previous 30 years to
identify any significant changes in the health of the Connecticut workforce
that have occurred during that time period.
·
Assisted DEP in
updating their 1996 Soil and Groundwater Cleanup Criteria by providing them
with revised targets that reflect current toxicity values and that take into
account the extra exposure and risk possible in young children.
·
Provided input to the Connecticut Siting Council on health issues
related to power lines and electric/magnetic fields (EMF) to assist them in
developing Best Management Practices that will govern the siting of future
transmission lines.
·
Trained sanitarians, housing code enforcement officials, and public
health nurses about specific housing problems and the associated health
impacts, how to characterize risk using epidemiological principles,
identification of higher risk populations for housing-related disease and
injury, housing systems contributing to a comfortable living space, and types
of codes that can be used to enforce remediation of housing-based health
threats.
·
Developed guidelines for the cleanup of methamphetamine labs and an
on-scene safety fact sheet for first responders and others who encounter methamphetamine
labs. Provided training to first
responders and child welfare workers.
Participated in a statewide methamphetamine task force created to
address the problem of methamphetamine use in Connecticut. Assisted several local health departments in
addressing clean up of methamphetamine labs in their towns.
·
In collaboration with the DEP, published the Reasonable Confidence
Protocols – a series of environmental laboratory methods with specific
Quality Control/Quality Assurance criteria. This will help to standardize the
quality of environmental laboratory data used to make critical environmental
decisions statewide.
·
Developed and implemented guidance to obtain DPH approval to conduct
asbestos abatement while school is in session within public and non-public,
elementary and secondary schools. The
guidance was developed in response to an informal opinion rendered by the
Office of the Attorney General and more effectively prevents unintended
exposure to asbestos for students and other children occupying school
buildings.