During APHA’s 136th Annual Meeting in October, the Ohio Public Health Association was honored for successfully combining its growth initiatives with its multiple commitments to the initiatives of APHA. The strategy has strengthened the Ohio Affiliate and helped it become a more powerful voice for the health of Ohio’s residents.
The Affiliate was honored Oct. 25 during the Committee on Affiliates annual awards ceremony and reception in San Diego. Hundreds of state and regional Affiliate members from around the nation attended the festive event, which culminated with the presentation of the CoA 2008 Outstanding Affiliate Award to OPHA.
“This is a tremendous honor for the Ohio Public Health Association and it speaks very highly of OPHA’s ongoing involvement with public health at the national level,” OPHA Executive Director Lois Hill, MS, told The Nation’s Health.
OPHA members have actively participated in APHA’s Committee on Affiliates, the APHA Action Board and the Affiliate Capacity-Building Initiative Advisory Committee. Additionally, OPHA is one of a handful of Affiliates involved in the rollout of APHA’s Grass Tops Advocacy Initiative, which aims to improve advocacy at national and state levels.
At the CoA reception in San Diego in October, 2007 CoA President Elizabeth Zelazek, MS, right, presents the 2008 Outstandig Affiliate Award to the Ohio Public Health Association, represented by Affiliate President Thomas Quade, left, and Affiliate Executive Director Lois Hill, center.
Photos this page courtesy EZ Event Photography
The Ohio Public Health Association also worked closely with Affiliate members throughout Ohio to coordinate advocacy efforts in the months and weeks leading up to the November election. Through “blast” e-mails, the entire membership learned quickly of candidate appearances throughout the state, said Hill, adding that OPHA is considering hosting a public policy institute next spring to educate members about advocacy.
OPHA experienced significant growth this year after hiring Hill, who stepped into the part-time executive director’s position last June after a 30-year career with the Ohio Department of Health. A unique partnership with the Ohio Optometric Association provides office space and technical support for OPHA, including the use of an electronic membership database that allows OPHA to send the blast e-mails to its entire membership base.
“We couldn’t have paid for that on our own,” Hill said. “It’s a great relationship and (the Ohio Optometric Association) could not be more gracious hosts for our association.”
But the partnership goes beyond providing administrative support, said OPHA President Thomas Quade, MPH, MA, CPH. Quade, who is an APHA member, said OPHA’s informal mentorship with the optometric association “adds another dimension to the public health voice for eye health.”
OPHA has also gained strength through its leadership role in the Ohio Public Health Partnership, a collaborative effort between OPHA and four other public health organizations in Ohio. Each organization maintains its own agenda and membership base, but the collaboration adds advocacy and legislative strength to public health in Ohio.
Regionally, OPHA also benefits from its partnership with the Great Lakes Public Health Coalition, which includes the public health associations of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.
“I consider these relationships to be among the greatest achievements of OPHA this past year,” Quade said. “By their nature, these greatest achievements are shared achievements. All of these relationships carry with them the real potential for a positive impact on the promotion of public health, the education of the public health work force and the expression of the public health message.”
In 2008, OPHA became one of four Affiliates piloting a new APHA Affiliate membership program aimed at increasing the numbers of members involved in both Affiliates and APHA. Through the new membership program, “the breadth and depth of the choir of public health voices increases dramatically for APHA as well as its local affiliates,” Quade said.
“The public health messages carried by those voices can reach a broader and more receptive audience as it now has the power of APHA’s tens of thousands of voices with the nuance provided by an Affiliate’s local familiarity,” he said.
For more information, visit www.ohiopha.org.
- Copyright The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association
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