Health Department

700 Fuller Avenue NE
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
Phone: (616) 632-7100
Fax: (616) 632-7083

Mission Statement

The Kent County Health Department shall be responsive to the community health needs of the citizens of Kent County by continually and diligently endeavoring to prevent disease, prolong life, and promote the public health.

Overview

The Kent County Health Department is responsible for continually assessing the health of the community and ensuring that appropriate services are available and accessible for its citizens. To this end, the Health Department investigates the causes of disease, epidemics, morbidity and mortality, and environmental health hazards using vital and health statistics for epidemiological studies. The Department plans and implements public education and enforces public health laws.

The Health Department is responsible for assuring the provision of programs in the following areas: vision and hearing screening, public water supplies, private and Type II groundwater supplies, food service sanitation, immunization, sexually transmitted diseases, on-site sewage disposal management, and general communicable disease control.

2008 was a year of significant accomplishment for the Kent County Health Department. Despite a dismal economic climate, the department took calculated steps to create systems and structures that will impact the community for years to come and preserve the viability of local health departments. The County saw continued progress on the new Human Services Complex on Grand Rapids’ southeast side. The building will house the Health Department’s Sheldon Clinic, which will serve clients with vital community services like the Women, Infants, and Children Program (WIC) and immunizations, one of the public health’s most significant disease-preventing measures. 2008 also saw the switchover from paper coupons to convenient and user-friendly electronic benefits transfer (EBT) for the WIC program and implementation of MI-WIC, a web-based application that aims to provide seamless WIC service in a paperless environment. Kent County was the first large county to roll out MI-WIC, which provided the State of Michigan with important feedback that is directing ongoing improvements to the system.

In the fall, workers completed construction of a state-of-the-art Animal Shelter. The facility is three times the size of the former shelter, which was built in the 1950s, and will safeguard the health of animals while boosting adoptions an anticipated 15 percent in the coming year. A grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) allowed the department to facilitate installation of smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in 800 homes county-wide. With the help of Netsmart Technologies, the Health Department began paving the way for Insight, new software that will provide a mechanism for registering and billing patients and tracking provider and client information all in one place. In these ways, the Kent County Health Department responds to the community health needs of Kent County citizens by continually and diligently endeavoring to prevent disease, prolong life, and promote the public health.

Strategic Goals

• Develop internal and external communications strategy
• Grow/enhance a participative employee culture
• Reduce cost of Kent County government operations
• Diversify sources of revenue.

Operational Goals

• Provide regular assessment, monitoring and surveillance of local health problems for the purpose of coordinating services and resources within the community
• Promote and provide a full range of clinic-based prevention services utilizing a network of community sites
• Provide home, school, and clinic-based services to promote positive health behaviors in at-risk individuals and families and to facilitate appropriate access to medical care
• Promote and provide public health education and control for the purpose of health risk assessment and reduction
• Provide all environmental health regulatory and consultation services, including comprehensive animal control
• Determine the cause and manner of unexpected deaths

2009 Adopted Uses: $27,950,326

2009 Adopted Revenues: $26,671,021

Department History of Uses

History of Uses (in millions)

Public Health Officials

Health Department Administrators

• Administrative Health Officer: Cathy Raevsky
• Medical Director: Mark Hall, M.D.
• Deputy Administrative Health Officer: Bill Anstey
• Finance Director: Gail Brink, C.P.A.
• Community Clinical Services Division Director: Roberta Peacock, R.N., B.S.N.
• Community Nursing Services Division Director: Sandra Walls, R.N., M.S.N.
• Environmental Health Division Director: David Kraker, R.E.H.S. / R.S.