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Benton County Health Department – Public Health Division

Our Vision

Public Health's vision is to provide leadership in preventive health programming. The three Core Public Health Functions – Assessment, Policy Development, and Assurance – will guide community-supported programs in addressing major causes of preventable morbidity and mortality in Benton County. Program activities will:

• Be based upon accurate, supportive data
• Provide meaningful and necessary services to enforce legal requirements and protect public health
• Utilize original as well as established methodologies
• Have planned evaluations
• Be carried out by dedicated, innovative, professional staff

Public Health activities will be extended to the residents of Benton County wherever they live, work, learn or play.

Public Health in the News

NEWS RELEASE
March 30, 2011
For further information, contact:
Rick Osborn, Public Information Officer, Benton County Board of Commissioners
541-766-6082, rick.osborn@co.benton.or.us

Repeat: Benton again tops Oregon health rankings
CORVALLIS, Ore. – For the second consecutive year, the health of Benton County was ranked No. 1 out of 36 Oregon counties by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, based on several key public health indicators.

The honor speaks highly of the work of Benton County as well as residents’ efforts to remain healthy and the dedication of the health care community. But it also serves as a reminder that the community should remain vigilant about maintain its high level of health. Key indicators of healthy communities were divided into two factors – Health Outcomes and Health Factors – and Benton County earned the top ranking in both. This is the second year the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has compiled the rankings.

“Having a healthy community involves many partners working together to address determinants of health that go far beyond treatment of illness,” Health Department Director Mitch Anderson said. “This high ranking is the result of our communities working together to provide a healthy environment, a great educational system, providing and improving access to quality healthcare and promoting wellness and healthy lifestyles. While we have much to celebrate we also have much work to do to address health disparities, assure access to healthcare for everyone and increase opportunities for every individual to succeed in improving their mental and physical wellbeing.”

Benton County – with the help of a professional epidemiologist, paid for with Public Health and Safety Levy dollars, passed by voters in 2007 – is actively monitoring health trends in Benton County in order to address problem areas before they become major issues, working with community partners. Benton County was rated among the top five counties in most individual indicators. County health rankings – conducted in each state by the RWJF – are designed to raise awareness of public health issues and focus attention on the multiple factors that influence health.

Among the factors used to determine the ranking, Benton County held the line on many factors, and moved up to No. 1 from the No. 5 spot last year for Clinical Care, as a result of proactive steps begun last year to improve that ranking largely through work of the Community Health Centers of Benton and Linn County, which provides increased affordable access to high-quality healthcare. Benton County did slip one spot in the already troubling area of Physical Environment, which depends largely on air quality as well as other measures. Benton County is looking at ways to better measure those factors and determine ways to improve that ranking, where it finished 20th this year, down one spot from 19th last year.

“Benton County is fortunate to have first-class health care providers, yet this report confirms that our overall health is affected by environment, economics, safety, families, education and more – factors far beyond provision of medical services,” Benton County Health Department Deputy Director Charlie Fautin said. “These outstanding results were not achieved overnight and demonstrate the need for ongoing support of all factors that contribute to health. Benton County Health Department will continue to use this and other health data to guide and direct our programs for greatest benefit and cost-effectiveness.”

View Oregon Health Ranking Report

 

NEWS RELEASE
April 5, 2011
For further information, contact:
Rick Osborn, Public Information Officer, Benton County Board of Commissioners
541-766-6082, rick.osborn@co.benton.or.us

Public Health Award

Health Status Report

The last time Benton County released a comprehensive county-wide health status report was in 2000. The web-based Health Status Report was developed in response to the need for current county level health data. This report is a compilation of secondary and primary health indicator data for Benton County.

A majority of the data is collected from state reports, federal reports and other sources. Some of the data was collected locally as part of ongoing projects. For each health indicator, Benton County data is presented with available Oregon data and Healthy People 2010 targets. A brief analytical interpretation of the data and a prevention message, where appropriate, were included with each health indicator. The Health Status Report is intended to be an ongoing work in progress, not a single cross-sectional glimpse. Information will be updated on a continuing basis as data becomes available.

This report will not only allow all of us to make better informed decisions about public health, but also guide us in implementing evidence-base research and practices as we all continue to work together making our community a healthier community.

The Benton County Health Department is pleased to announce the Health Status Report.

 

Public Health

Public Health is one of four divisions at Benton County Health Department. The other three divisions are Mental Health, Environmental Health, and Health Management Services. 

What Does Public Health Do?

See the video on what Public Health does at: http://www.generationpublichealth.org

Public Health Organization Charts

PH Organization Chart