Your public health system is working for you

Why do public health systems matter? Because they work extraordinarily well, and are among the most efficient public programs in the country. More importantly, because public health providers work together to keep our communities healthy.
Every year, in early April, we take a moment to acknowledge and recognize the interconnected, efficient, and effective public health systems in this country. National Public Health Week is a celebration of a system that works.
In Northern Sonoma County, we are tremendously lucky to have a public hospital district and a network of community health centers that together, save lives, teach wellness and prevention, and plug the holes in the social safety net. Your local public health providers are dynamic, valuable contributors to community well-being. Let’s look at a few success stories.
In the last five years, Healdsburg District Hospital opened a new Intensive Care Unit, remodeled its Emergency Department, upgraded its imaging technology, and was just notified that it has earned national accreditation as a Primary Stroke Center. The hospital’s emergency care, joint replacement program, wound care center, and acute care services are crucially important in small communities like ours.
Alliance Medical Center, your local community health center, recently launched an expansion of its dental department. Soon, Alliance will open its expanded pediatric dental center, serving Sonoma County children who previously had limited access to a dentist. Alliance was also notified by the federal government that it is in the top 1 percent in the nation for prenatal care. Alliance cares for everyone in the community, from prenatal to seniors.
The hospital is owned and operated by the North Sonoma County Healthcare District, which stretches from Windsor to Cloverdale. The district is accountable to north county residents and taxpayers through a publicly elected board of directors. Alliance is a non-profit, federally qualified health center, also governed by a volunteer board of directors.
These two public health entities are accountable only to their communities and their patients, never to shareholders or to distant executives. We also place a strong emphasis on prevention. Hospital and clinic staff are dedicated to keeping you well. Seven in 10 deaths in this country are related to preventable diseases like obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and cancer, and 75 percent of our healthcare dollars are spent treating such diseases. A well-timed lab test or an important conversation with a medical provider can change the course of a life.
If you want to learn more about local healthcare, look us up online or call and ask for a personal tour of your well-equipped, modern public health facilities.
Beatrice Bostick is the CEO of Alliance Medical Center. Nancy Schmid is the CEO of Healdsburg District Hospital.