In addition to being a consultant for the Public Health Foundation, Erin Barkema is a Regional Community Health Consultant for the Bureau of Local Public Health Services at the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH). Her main responsibilities include serving as a liaison between 20 local Boards of Health in Iowa and the Iowa Department of Public Health, building public health infrastructure through education and technical assistance, and serving as a resource to individuals within a 20 county area. Ms. Barkema provides technical assistance, consultation, and education to local public health practitioners, Board of Health members, and Board of Supervisors members on a variety topics including changes in the health care delivery system, emerging public health issues/practices, strategic planning, policy development, governance, and performance management. Ms. Barkema serves as the evaluation and quality improvement subject matter expert for the Bureau of Local Public Health Services.
Prior to joining the Bureau of Local Public Health Services, Ms. Barkema worked as a Public Health Advisor in the Bureau of Communication and Planning at IDPH. In this role she was responsible for guiding, promoting, and facilitating quality improvement efforts for IDPH; developing and sustaining a quality improvement infrastructure for the governmental public health system in Iowa; providing technical assistance, consultation, and education on performance management and quality improvement; and assisting with implementation of the Modernizing Public Health in Iowa initiative. During her tenure with IDPH, Ms. Barkema also worked as the Quality and Evaluation Coordinator and the Quality Management Program Manager for the Bureau of HIV, STD, and Hepatitis, and a Consultant for the Bureau of Family Health.
Ms. Barkema is a part-time faculty member in the Master of Public Health program at Des Moines University and she serves as the MPH Internship Coordinator. In addition, she taught the Health Services Program Evaluation course in the Master of Public Health and Master of Health Care Administration programs from 2006-2011. Ms. Barkema received a Bachelor of Science in Community Health Education from Iowa State University and a Master of Public Health from Des Moines University.