The Shawano-Menominee Counties Health Department has been certified by the state as a Level II department and was praised by the state Department of Health Services for its efforts.
Paula Tran, state health officer and administrator of the Wisconsin DHS, sent a letter to Mike Wizner, chairman of the Shawano County Health and Veterans Service Committee, informing him of the certification. The letter was shared with supervisors at the March 26 county board meeting.
“While the spotlight on public health has never been brighter, the need for public health has never been more evident,” Tran wrote. “At the same time, local health departments have shown that they have the knowledge, skills, and experience vital to maintaining and improving individual community health.
“Public health work impacts everyone and every corner of the community and success when it is a shared effort. I applaud the dedicated efforts of Nick (Mau) and the Shawano-Menominee Counties Health Department staff to keep your jurisdiction healthy and safe.”
Mau is the health officer and director at the health department, a position he has held since June 2024. He has been with the department since March 2016.
“I appreciate my team,” Mau said. “We have a really great dedicated staff full of really experienced people that care about your community.”
A Level II health department must provide services in the following areas: communicable disease; chronic disease and injury prevention; environmental public health; maternal child family health; and access to, or linkage with, clinical health care.
It must also assure workforce development; engage in quality improvement efforts; engage in performance management by setting performance measures for the mission, vision, values, and goals of the agency; and embed public health nursing services throughout the Level III requirements.
Wizner said the praise was well deserved.
“The work they’re dong is unbelievable. They’re dong amazing work there,” Wizner said. “The work they’re doing is above and beyond. His entire staff goes above and beyond every day.”
County Board Chairman Tom Kautza agreed.
“It’s the first one (letter from the state) that I’ve ever seen saying how good of a department we have in this area,” he said.
kpasson@newmedia-wi.com
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