CDC grant a ‘shot in the arm’ for local health department

The Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department recently received a large federal grant that local public health officials say will help combat chronic diseases.

The three-year, $1.3-million community health grant administered by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will be used to expand the local effort to make it easier for kids to walk or bike to school, improve the local food system through things like farm-to-institution programs and combat the rising use of e-cigarettes, particularly among young people.

The local health department’s ability to obtain the grant was strengthened by the community’s existing commitment to public health, like the local wellness coalition LiveWell Lawrence, officials say. Only 39 of these grants were given out, mainly to larger communities like Miami, Chicago and Atlanta.

“To me, that’s one of the more affirming things to come out of this. It’s affirmation that we’ve got a good, strong partnership with LiveWell Lawrence,” said Dan Partridge, director of the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department. “Really, this is going to allow us to put a lot more resources and manpower into the things we care about in this community, which are healthy eating, physically active lifestyles and reducing tobacco use.”

The grant will increase the agency’s community health budget from about $300,000 annually to about $800,000 over the next three years. It will allow the department to hire more community health employees and provide financial support to the Douglas County Food Policy Council, which aims to create a more sustainable local food system. It is the largest ever grant the health department has received to fight chronic diseases.

“The grant is going to help us not only in a three-year time frame but moving forward,” Partridge said. “It just helps us get better prepared for the work of the next 20 years. It’s a much-needed shot in the arm to get us where we need to be.”