Health Happenings
Community Health Council: Celebrating 10 Years in Service to Otero County
By Lee Ann Loney, Coordinator
Otero County Community Health Council
In 1996, a small group of people in Otero County, interested in improving the health of our people and our community, came together to begin forming a coalition to address issues around maternal and child health. This was consistent with efforts in communities all over New Mexico since in 1991 the state passed the Maternal and Child Health Plan Act. This act provided for community Maternal and Child Health Councils. This councils assessed needs and gaps in community services and received funding from the New Mexico Department of Health to assure that these services were provided. In 1998, the Otero County Maternal and Child Health Council was officially funded through the Department of Health, with CHINS as its fiscal agent.
Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Councils were allowed to choose a number of priorities on which to work. In the early years, the Otero County MCH Council realized the need for dental care and education for children in Otero County. MCH members worked with local dentists and encouraged increased use of Medicaid. We also worked with schools to help provide dental education and prevention measures.
Another early priority was the need for additional child care. We worked with existing child care providers to assess the need and bring awareness to the community regarding utilization and access to child care.
In 2001, through the Improving Health Initiative, the Department of Health encouraged MCH Councils to broaden their scope of work and become “Community Health Councils”. At this time, the Otero County MCH Council became the Otero County Community Health Council. We acknowledged that “women and children don’t live in a vacuum” and the health of these groups depends on the entire community. The Department of Health provided to Community Health Councils (CHC) training in the community health improvement process so that we could become more effective in changing the health status of our communities.
While we have had a number of priorities since 2001, including transportation and teen pregnancy, our main priorities in recent years have been substance abuse and obesity. Both of these topics have a broad impact on our community. We have started coalitions to deal specifically with these issues and through these have brought more awareness to the community about these issues.
While this is a very brief history of the Otero County Community Health Council, we want you to learn more. Please visit our website at www.oterohealthcouncil.org. There you can see our Community Health Profile and Plan, and our Community Resource Directory. These are living documents that provide information about the community and a description of how we plan to work on our priorities. The Resource Directory can be a ready resource for phone numbers and information about our local health related service agencies and organizations.
Since this year is our 10th year as a funded Health Council, we want to celebrate our successes. Our regular meeting on December 2 at The Counseling Center from 11:30am to 1:00pm will be our celebration. The lunch that day will be provided by Gerald Champion Regional Medial Center. Please contact us at 443-8100 or oterochc@tularosa.net by November 21 to RSVP for this celebration. If you were involved in the early years of the Health Council development, we especially want to hear from you. We want to thank all who helped us get where we are today and we look forward to our next 10 years, and beyond. Our goal continues to be improving the health of the ALL who live in our Otero County.
This column is provided as a service of the Otero County Community Health Council and the Alamogordo Daily News as a way to provide the latest in health and wellness information, services and events. The Mission of the OCCHC is "to assess, promote, and enhance the health and well being of county residents by creating a process that encourages broad-based community involvement." If you would like more information about OCCHC or would like to be a part of our efforts, contact Lee Ann Loney, OCCHC Coordinator, at 700 E. First Street, Suite 720, Alamogordo, NM 88310, 443-8100, oteromch@netmdc.com for more information. The Community Health Council meets the first Tuesday of each month, 11:30 am at The Counseling Center, 1900 E. 10th St. Articles for this column are submitted by Health Council partners, but do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Otero County Community Health Council.Otero County Community Health Council
700 E. 1st St.
Suite 720
Alamogordo, NM
88310
(575) 443-8100
Fax (575) 437-2949
oterochc@tularosa.net
oteromch@netmdc.com