Jefferson County among Gold Wisconsin Healthy Communities recipients

Jefferson County has again received recognition from the Wisconsin Healthy Communities Designation program, according to information recently released through Fort HealthCare.

The county was among 28 communities in Wisconsin to receive the recognition. 

According to the release: The designation recognizes Jefferson County at the Gold level for its work to improve health across multiple factors: health behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors, and physical environment, encourage communities to conceptualize health improvement in this broad way, structuring their health improvement efforts accordingly and to promote cooperation across multiple sectors. 

The Healthy Communities Designation program is designed to be accessible to communities of all shapes and sizes, both rural and urban. The definition of community is broad and can include counties, municipalities, neighborhoods, and other self-defined, place-based communities in Wisconsin. The program uses a three-tiered approach – gold, silver and bronze – which are meant to provide a trajectory and serve as a guide for communities as they continue to strive toward better health. 

Jefferson County had previously received a designation in 2018 and the renewal is recognition of continued work and programming towards improving local health, the release noted, adding: This program is intended to recognize and encourage achievements in health improvement in Wisconsin communities and to promote cooperation across multiple sectors.

“Jefferson County is proud to be among the 28 Wisconsin communities that received designations this year and one of five who received the Gold designation. Collaborating partners decided to renew this designation in 2021 to highlight the great work being done to improve the health of our community,” Gail Scott, director and health officer of the Jefferson County Health Department, was quoted as saying within the release.

Several initiatives were used in this application, including: Healthy Communities Coalitions, Drug Treatment Court and Alcohol Treatment Court, Jefferson County Park and Recreation Open Space Plan, Rock River Health Care Network, Jefferson County Drug Free Coalition, Rock River Community Clinic, Naloxone Education and Distribution Program, Drug Disposal Program, and Behavioral Health and Primary Care Integration, the release continued.  

Achieving Gold status means that community partners are working collaboratively to examine the needs of the community and focus on sustainable solutions that have better health outcomes. Gold communities are also recognized when initiatives include multiple health factors such as health behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors, and the physical environment, as well as being scientifically supported. This process and the resources provided helps collaborating partners to determine what initiatives are being done well and where improvements can be made. Next steps for collaborating partners will be to sustain and build on current partnerships across multiple sectors, as well as diving deeper to assess and address current health needs to ensure health equity, the release stated. 

“Based on our community health needs assessments and other data collected from the Jefferson County community, we have pursued several initiatives to reach our overarching goals. The partnerships of our community have such strength, Jefferson County continues to move in the right direction, and we are proud of the prestige that comes with this Gold designation. This is yet another example of what we can achieve when we all work together toward the health and wellness of the community,” Fort HealthCare President and CEO Mike Wallace noted within the release.