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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PR- 237-03
August 20, 2003

MAYOR MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG AND HEALTH COMMISSIONER THOMAS R. FRIEDEN ANNOUNCE LAUNCH OF DISTRICT PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICES IN NEIGHBORHOODS WITH MOST PRESSING HEALTH PROBLEMS

Neighborhood Based Health Offices Will Address Health Disparities in the Bronx, Harlem and Brooklyn

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) Commissioner Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, Health and Hospitals Corporation President Ben Chu, Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión, City Councilmember Joel Rivera, State Senator Olga Mendez, and a group of community leaders launched a new Bronx District Public Health Office (DPHO) on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx.  The Mayor also announced the launch of two other District Public Health Offices in Harlem and Brooklyn.  The South and East Bronx, East and Central Harlem, and North and Central Brooklyn – areas that have had persistent, across-the-board problems with community health – will now host teams of health workers who will work specifically within these communities to help make them healthier.  The offices will not provide direct medical care to residents, but will be responsible for their communities’ health through research and tracking of diseases, as well as coordination with area health care providers. 

“The District Public Health Program reflects our commitment to make quality health care available to all New York City’s neighborhoods,” said Mayor Bloomberg.  “It is a bold and innovative approach to public health that directly reaches out to communities and involves them in addressing pressing community health issues.  Today marks the day that we take targeted action to eliminate the health disparities in our neighborhoods.  Neighborhood-level programs are important.  Just as the Police Department’s Operation Impact focused attention on areas with the greatest need, the District Public Health Program will deploy public health professionals and resources necessary to stop preventable diseases and death in these at-risk communities.”

“Avoidable deaths and illnesses are all-too-common in these communities,” said Commissioner Frieden. “If the health of residents in New York City’s most vulnerable neighborhoods was as good as that of residents in our healthiest neighborhoods, there would have been almost 4,500 fewer deaths last year. Although only one in six New Yorkers lives in these three neighborhoods, more than one in four premature deaths occur here.”

Each DPHO will work to reduce illness and death by bringing public health professionals closer to the community they serve.  Offices will provide information on and facilitate the following:

  • A joint effort between school health programs and local health providers to improve asthma management so that children won’t miss school and parents won’t have to take days off from work.
  • Increase screening for colon cancer by providing 1,500 additional colon cancer screenings in each of these three areas, which will result in 50-100 lives saved each year.
  • Exercise and nutrition education including programs with the Department of Education and the Department of Parks and Recreation. Children will be encouraged to make physical activity a life-long habit.
  • A program to help health providers integrate the most effective measures for diabetes control, smoking cessation and other illnesses into their practices.
  • Increased flu and pneumonia vaccinations.
  • Expanded programs to prevent unintended pregnancies. The Bronx has a teen pregnancy rate, 50% higher than the rest of the City.
  • Prevention of lead poisoning through education and strict enforcement of lead paint laws.
  • Improving rodent control by working with the City’s Rodent Control Task Force.  The DPHO will step up rodent control work in each of these three areas and will distribute new rodent-proof garbage cans.
  • Prevention and testing for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, including condom distribution, counseling, and the use of new rapid HIV tests.

The District Public Health Offices will provide community-specific approaches to improving health.  The sharp disparities between these neighborhoods and other parts of the City in asthma, diabetes, heart disease, lead poisoning, cancer, HIV, and other preventable illnesses will require many partners to find solutions. Our partners include hospitals, medical providers, community-based organizations, schools, as well as non traditional partners such as employers and housing agencies.  Each District Public Health Office will in a sense act as a “mini Health Department” within the neighborhood that it serves.
 
Each of the DPHOs will be led by a District Public Health Officer, holding the rank of Assistant Commissioner or above at DOHMH.  The staff at the DPHOs will design and implement neighborhood-specific initiatives and activities such as:

  • Coordinate and monitor existing public health programs.
  • Expand collaboration with other City and State agencies.
  • Develop joint programs with community-based organizations, hospitals, and clinics to improve health outcomes.
  • Make sure people know where they can get needed health care services and information.

Heading up the three DPHOs are District Public Health Officers Andrew Goodman, MD, MPH (Harlem), Adam Karpati, MD, MPH (Brooklyn), and Colin McCord, MD (Bronx).

For more information call 3-1-1 or visit nyc.gov/health.







MEDIA CONTACT:


Edward Skyler / Jordan Barowitz   (212) 788-2958

Sandra Mullin / Noelia Chung   (DOHMH)
(212) 788-5290




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