Los Alamos County Health: Reaching Out To The Community

Submitted by Kirsten Laskey (ladp admin)
on July 3, 2024
- 7:00 am

By LORI PADILLA
Chair
Los Alamos County Health Council

Health Connection:

Back in April, Los Alamos Daily Post reporter Kirsten Laskey wrote a very detailed piece on the presentation Social Services Manager Jessica Strong gave on preliminary results and short-term recommendations identified in the interim Los Alamos County Comprehensive Health Plan. (https://ladptest2.ortizaudio.net/los-alamos-county-comprehensive-health-plan-update-identifies-challenges-and-offers-short-term-solutions/).

The actual presentation can be found at the following link under the Details Tab: https://www.losalamosnm.us/Health-and-Public-Safety/Community-Health/Comprehensive-Health-Plan.

One of the improvements identified in the plan was to have more frequent communications on community health-related information shared with the community. This article is the first in a series that will be shared by members of the Los Alamos County Health Council. I am the Chair of the Los Alamos Health Council, a role I have had since January 2023. I would like to take this opportunity to share about Health Councils more generally, and what our Health Council is working on more specifically.

New Mexico has a decentralized community health planning system. Each County and tribal nation can establish a Health Council, whether it is set up under the County’s jurisdiction, or as a standalone non-profit organization. These Health Councils are intended to be the hub of this decentralized system, providing a mechanism for local communities to assess local health needs, create comprehensive health plans, and coordinate the implementation of the community health plans. This allows for each County to determine what health issues are most pressing to its community members.

The Los Alamos Health Council has been working to assess community health needs through the Comprehensive Health Plan (CHP) interviews and community input sessions. We are in the final stages of the CHP and are gathering input from the community through the distribution of a community health survey. The survey should be ready to launch to the community in July, and will be mailed to all residences in the County – please keep an eye out for it, because your input is very important to us and future planning to meet the community’s health needs!

Our Call for Connection:

Los Alamos County Health Council invites community members to voice their community health concerns and suggestions to Health Council through completion of this survey, and by welcoming you to attend the Los Alamos County Health Council meetings. The meetings are held 12-1:30 p.m. on the first Thursday of the month. You can attend in-person or via Zoom.

The next meeting is scheduled for Aug. 1, 2024, and the agenda will be posted approximately a week before the meeting at https://losalamos.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx. If you have items you want brought before the council, you can contact Jessica Strong at jessica.strong@lacnm.us.