Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Health topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Public health director outlines 2024 strategic plan, community health improvement priorities
Summary
Madera County Public Health Director Sarah Boss presented the department's 2024 strategic plan and a community health improvement plan focused on access to care, chronic disease, domestic violence/child abuse prevention, and pathways to recovery; supervisors asked about public communications and consent regarding medical recommendations.
MADERA — Madera County Public Health Director Sarah Boss presented the board on Tuesday with the department’s new strategic plan and the county’s community health improvement plan, both developed from a community health assessment and outreach held in 2023.
Boss said the county collected input at 35 community gatherings in English and Spanish and used the results to prioritize four strategic areas: access to care, diabetes and heart disease prevention, domestic violence and child abuse prevention, and pathways to recovery for people with substance-use disorders. She said work will include expanding community health worker capacity, strengthening partnerships and pursuing upstream policy and systems changes.
"We prioritized the elements from the data into a community health improvement plan with four strategic priorities," Boss said, and described how coalition partners will lead each area. She described the department's strategic-plan pillars—program implementation, workforce development, and operational excellence—tying them to accreditation, performance management, and financial sustainability.
Supervisor Joel Rogers asked about the doctrine of "advising consent" and whether the department fully informed the public of potential risks when recommending medical interventions. Rogers referenced his experience during the COVID-19 response and asked whether the public received full information about benefits and risks. Boss said the department aims to provide honest, science-based information and to create opportunities for the public to ask questions; she said clinical staff answer medical questions and that physicians provided direct answers when asked during the pandemic. “We will always give the honest and accurate information based on the science that's available,” Boss said.
Boss also discussed workforce challenges after COVID-19, saying public health staffing has improved with new funding but that retention and onboarding of people new to public health is a priority. She noted emergency preparedness, community resilience, and efforts to reduce disparities as operational priorities.
No formal action was required; supervisors praised the outreach process and suggested regular touchpoints between the board and department on policy priorities and legislative advocacy tied to the department’s goals.
