Director of Quality Improvement, Jefferson County Department of Health
Location: Birmingham, AL
Phone: 205-930-1578
Length of Time in Public Health:
- 3 years direct experience, 25 years indirect experience
Current Work Setting:
- Governmental public health
Relationship Building Experience:
- I have been involved in developing an academic health department (AHD)
About Me:
I recently returned to the traditional public health setting, Jefferson County Department of Health, a local health department, after working for over twenty-five years in academic and hospital-based research, staff development, and quality improvement. Throughout my career, I have collaborated with institutions of higher education in these endeavors resulting in improvements in operational efficiency and effectiveness and patient/population health status.
Although I have been requested to serve as the primary contact for the Jefferson County Department of Health (JCDH) within the Learning Collaborative, a number of JCDH employees hold faculty appointments in area academic agencies, predominately the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Staff holding joint academic appointments include the Health Officer, Michael Fleenor, MD, MPH; the Deputy Health Officer, Claude Ouimet, MD; the Medical Director, Stephen Mallard, MD; and the Director of Community and Dental Health, Teri Chafin, DMD, MPH.
About My Institution:
Jefferson County Department of Health
- Is a public health practice organization
- Employs 500-999 people
- Serves urban, rural, and suburban geographic areas
- Currently participates in AHD partnerships with (date of partnership):
- University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa (1991)
- University of Alabama at Birmingham’s School of Health Related Professions (1993)
- University of Alabama at Birmingham’s School of Public Health (1994)
- Wallace State Community College (1995)
- University of Alabama at Birmingham’s School of Medicine (1996)
- University of Alabama at Birmingham’s School of Optometry (1996)
- University of Alabama at Birmingham’s School of Dentistry (1997)
- Samford University’s McWhorter School of Pharmacy (2002)
- University of Alabama’s Board of Trustees (2004)
- Oakwood College (2006)
- Lawson State Community College (2009)
- Stanford University School of Medicine (2010)
- Is not currently working to form AHD partnerships
- Has relationships with academic health professions institutions for:
- Public health education/training
- Public health research
- Public health service provision
- Has relationships with academic health professions institutions characterized by:
- Formal written partnership agreements
- Shared personnel
- Compensation for services provided
- Collaborative public health education/training
- Joint research projects
- Shared provision of public health services