We are your local public health department. We’re here for you.
April 04, 2025
Launch the media gallery 1 playerIf you live in Adams, Clay, Nuckolls or Webster counties, your local (district) public health department is the South Heartland District Health Department (SHDHD). This week, in recognition of National Public Health Week, I’d like to share who we are and what we do!
What is Public Health and who is it for?
Public health is the science and practice of protecting and improving the health of people and communities. We do this by focusing on prevention, education, policy making and interventions to address health risks and promote overall well being.
Public health is for everyone – including you. All of us – no matter our backgrounds – benefit from public health every day. We focus on creating conditions for everyone in our community to be at their healthiest. From health screenings and wellness programs to vaccinations and maternal, child and family health resources, your local public health professionals provide both visible and invisible services every day to keep everyone in our community healthy.
Why is it important?
Public health improves life expectancy, lowers the impact of diseases, helps reduce differences in health care access and outcomes, and ensures safe environments. It benefits communities by preventing disease outbreaks, promoting wellness and empowering individuals to live their healthiest and most productive lives.
How is public health different from healthcare?
Public health and healthcare are related but serve different purposes in keeping us healthy. While healthcare primarily involves treating individuals for illnesses and injuries at hospitals or clinics, in public health we focus on preventing people from getting sick or injured in the first place by promoting health at the community level.
For example, your doctor might diagnose cancer or could encourage you to be up-to-date on your cancer screenings, so that cancer can be prevented or diagnosed early, when it is more treatable. In public health, we look to see what percent of the community’s population of eligible adults is up-to-date on cancer screenings and try to improve those numbers by figuring out what gets in the way of people getting screened. We might find that some people don’t know they are eligible for screenings, or don’t have a regular health care provider, or their insurance doesn’t cover screenings. We then plan interventions to reduce barriers to screening. Our solution might be to provide low-cost screenings at community health fairs, so that more people get screened.
Who are your local public health workers?
SHDHD staff are trained professionals working to support the department’s mission. Nearly all of us live right here in south central Nebraska. We are passionate about our work to protect and improve health in our communities so that everyone, including our families, friends and neighbors, can be healthier.
Our team of 27 staff includes home visitors, nurses, health educators, community health workers, program coordinators, epidemiologist/disease investigators, and specialists in preventative oral health, emergency preparedness and response, environmental health, health literacy, accounting, billing, grants management, and data analysis. We are data-driven and our staff are always learning so we have up-to-date skills, and we can provide the best services and most accurate information to our communities.
What role does public health play in emergencies such as pandemics and natural disasters?
Public health helps our communities prepare for emergencies and we contribute to emergency responses by detecting and monitoring diseases and hazards in the community, providing accurate and timely information to the public, and collaborating with and supporting decision makers in healthcare, government and education. We also distribute resources (like vaccines).
We are currently monitoring the measles outbreak in the U.S., which has not made it to Nebraska, yet. Measles is a highly infectious disease. We are making sure our health care providers know what to look for, how to test for measles, how to handle measles patients, and know how and when to report suspected measles to the health department.
We are also educating on the importance of getting the MMR vaccination to protect against the consequences of measles infection. Measles infection can have lasting impacts, including permanent neurological damage, miscarriage/premature birth, blindness, and death. But 2 doses of the MMR vaccine is about 97% effective in preventing measles.
What else do we do?
One role of a public health department is to help our communities identify health issues and set health improvement goals. Our understanding of our community’s needs comes from comprehensive assessments, analysis and simply listening to community members. Working with our communities and partners, we recently set new priorities and developed strategies for improvement. These 3 priorities in our new community health improvement plan are: mental well being, chronic disease conditions, and senior/elder health.
We help communities plan how to take action with proven, science-based programs and interventions. We set goals for improving community health, we find funding to support those plans, we help those plans come to life, we provide services and programs to support the plan, and we measure progress toward our goals to show how the community’s efforts are making a difference.
Join us in our efforts! Community members can support public health by staying informed, volunteering, advocating for health policies and participating in community programs. When we work together, all of us — individuals, families, communities - can help achieve our community health goals and bring us closer to our vision of Healthy People in Healthy Communities!
Michele Bever, PhD, MPH, is executive director for South Heartland District Health Department, serving Adams, Clay, Nuckolls and Webster counties in Nebraska. She may be reached at 1-877-238-7595.
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