BREWSTER, NY—After nearly six months of preparation and discussions with community members, a plan to improve the health of Putnam County residents has been completed. It was posted on the health department website and submitted to New York State on June 29. The final 15-page document outlines three chosen priorities, paired with selected interventions, that will be tracked and reported on annually to the state health department. 

“We wanted to gather input from as many of our residents we serve as possible,” said Putnam County Public Health Director Rian Rodriguez, MPH. “It was important to listen to many different voices and ensure that individuals who face special challenges were heard. Our staff travelled all around the county and talked with individuals about the greatest health concerns they have—for themselves, their families, and their communities. We thank everyone who took part to make this work so meaningful.”

Putnam County Executive Kevin Byrne praised the work of the health department, as well as the combined efforts of the Departments of Mental Health, Social Services & Youth Bureau, and the Office for Senior Resources. He said, “This cycle of community health improvement planning confirms the critical need to support our ongoing county mental health initiatives, which we've already backed through strategic funding adjustments." Putnam County generally does well when it comes to independent health rankings. However, with the work put in place by this plan and the joint vision of our health department and its partners, we can take it to the next level and Putnam residents will reap enhanced health benefits.”

The five areas that mattered most to community members were the same as those selected by key stakeholders from community-based partner organizations, with variations only in selection order. They were economic stability, mental health and suicide prevention, childhood preventive services, healthcare access, and healthy eating and food access. After analyzing and synthesizing the input with guidance from the NYS Prevention Agenda 2025-2030, the three chosen priorities for Putnam County were poverty/economic stability, anxiety and stress, and healthy children/preventive services. 

Once the priority areas came into focus, health department staff and leadership discussed the feasibility and impact of Prevention Agenda-guided interventions to address each area. Formalizing referral pathways to both the Department of Social Services and the Office for Senior Resources has both high feasibility and impact to address poverty by cross training health department staff on the services of these agencies. The intervention selected to reduce anxiety and stress is to implement and promote Mental Health First Aid courses throughout the county. While already offered through the Department of Mental Health in Putnam County, the number of available facilitators will be increased by training health department staff to conduct sessions. This will allow more trainings to be offered to the people who live and work in Putnam. 

For the preventive services priority, increasing rates of adolescents who complete the HPV vaccine series was selected. Activities here will be twofold and focus on reducing cancer risk. First, a social media campaign targeting areas with low vaccination rates will be conducted. Next, provider-directed activities will include enhancing practice support through various methods such as educating providers and launching a system of vaccine reminders.

“While the state requires that we select and report to them on three priorities, we have other important health challenges in our county and numerous health promotion programs at the health department. And we continue to work on and enhance these programs as well,” said Shanna Siegel, RN, public information officer for the health department, and supervising public health educator. Her health education staff spearheaded planning and on-the-ground efforts to gather input from all corners of Putnam County. Among other identified issues that the department continues to focus on are alcohol and tobacco use, food access and healthy eating, healthcare access, maternal child health and tickborne disease.

The mission of the Putnam County Department of Health is to improve and protect the health of the Putnam County community. The department, nationally accredited by the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) through 2029, serves a community composed of nearly 100,000 residents. Core services are provided through a lens of equity, and include community health assessment, disease surveillance and control, emergency preparedness, environmental health protection, family health promotion and health education. For more information, please visit the County website at http://www.putnamcountyny.gov or our social media sites on Facebook, X and Instagram @PutnamHealthNY.

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Resources:

• New York State Department of Health – Prevention Agenda 2025 -2030 https://health.ny.gov/prevention/prevention_agenda/2025-2030/ 
  
• Putnam County Department of Health – 2025-2030 Community Health Improvement Plan and 2025 Community Health Assessment 
  https://www.putnamcountyny.gov/health/community-health#Assessments