The mission of the DeKalb County Health Department is to prevent disease and injury; protect the environment; and promote health according to Administrator Lisa Gonzalez who was this week’s featured speaker.  Gonzalez is in her tenth year leading the department and  previously worked for the department before becoming Administrator.  She oversees a staff of 44 employees organized into four divisions:  Administration; Health Prevention and Emergency Preparation; Community Health (clinical programs including immunizations); and Health Protection (including permits related to food, animals, and solid waste).  Gonzalez noted that 50% of the funding for the department comes from grants, 33 percent from fees and other payments, and just 17 percent from taxes.

 

Gonzalez provided statistics on various programs showing increases in demand for services over the past several years.  She reported a 4.2% increase in food inspections since 2023.  During that same period there was a 13% increase in water sample requests from well users.  As the County Animal Control managers, the health department has seen 8.3% increase in reported animal bites since 2023.  She also reported a 10.7% increase in tuberculosis testing since 2023 but a 12.6% decrease in child immunizations during the same period.

 

Gonzalez said their 2026 priorities aim to address opioid use and overdose; the quality of child birth and care; workforce recruitment, retention, and development; and enhanced community outreach and partnerships.  Gonzalez also promoted their Flu and Covid immunization services with instances of these illnesses currently increasing.  Full details about the County Health Department programs and services may be found at https://health.dekalbcounty.org.

January 26, 1880 - General Douglas MacArthur is born on a military base in Little Rock, Arkansas.  He commanded Allied forces in the Pacific during World War II.  He commanded U.N. forces after war broke out in Korea in 1950 until dismissed in 1951 by President Harry S. Truman in a disagreement over war policy.

 

January 27, 1932 – British novelist Lewis Carroll (author of “Alice in Wonderland” and “Through the Looking Glass”) is born in Daresbury, Cheshire, England.

 

January 30, 1882 – The 32^nd President of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, is born in Hyde Park, New York.  Despite being crippled by polio, he launched a successful political career and as President oversaw relief efforts for the Great Depression and America’s response to World War II.  He died in office during his unprecedented fourth term as President.

 

January 31, 1919 – Baseball great Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier in major league baseball when he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, is born in Cairo, Georgia.

January 25, 1924 – The first Winter Olympics took off in style in the French Alps.  A total of 258 athletes participated in sixteen events comprised of eight sports.

 

January 26, 1887 – Ground is broken and construction begins on the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France.

 

January 27, 1967 – Astronauts “Gus” Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee were killed as fire erupted inside their Apollo 1 spacecraft during a launch simulation test at Cape Kennedy, Florida.

 

January 28, 1986 – The U. S. Space Shuttle Challenger exploded 74 seconds into its flight killing the seven-member crew including teacher Christa McAuliffe, who was to be the first ordinary citizen in space.