Public Health Practices was launched in 2006 to share practices related to pandemic influenza preparedness. The founding Advisory Committee members dedicated their time and expertise to developing the project, and many have continued to serve as informal advisors since the end of their tenure in 2007. As advisors to the project, the following committee members defined its initial direction, solicited and reviewed promising practices, and promoted its use as a public health tool.
CIDRAP recognizes the following committee members, who helped develop this project, and the positions they held during their participation. We extend our thanks to both the individuals and the organizations for which they worked for the contributions to Promising Practices.
James S. Blumenstock, MA
Jim Blumenstock is the Chief Program Officer for Public Health Practice for the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO). His portfolio includes the state public health practice program areas of infectious and emerging diseases, immunization, environmental health, injury prevention, and public health preparedness and security, including pandemic influenza preparedness. He also serves as a member of the Association’s Executive Management Team responsible for enterprise-wide strategic planning, administrative services, member support, and public health advocacy.
Prior to his arrival at ASTHO on November 1, 2005, Mr. Blumenstock was the Deputy Commissioner of Health for the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services where he retired after almost 32 years of career public health service. In this capacity, he had executive oversight responsibilities for a department branch of over 650 staff, an operating budget of approximately $125 million, which was comprised of the Division of Public Health and Environmental Laboratories; Division of Epidemiology, Occupational and Environmental Health; Division of Local Health Practice and Regional Systems Development; Division of Health Emergency Preparedness and Response, and the Office of Animal Welfare. During his tenure, Blumenstock also represented the Department on a number of boards, councils and commissions including the NJ Domestic Security Preparedness Task Force.
Mr. Blumenstock is the proud recipient of the ASTHO 2004 Noble J. Swearingen Award for excellence in public health administration and the Dennis J. Sullivan award, the highest honor bestowed by the NJ Public Health Association for dedicated and outstanding service and contribution to the cause of public health. He is also a Year 14 Scholar of the Public Health Leadership Institute and held an elected office serving his community for 12 years.
Mr. Blumenstock received his Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science from Rutgers University in 1973 and a Master of Arts degree in Health Sciences Administration from Jersey City State College in 1977. He is a native of New Jersey which is still his primary residence with his wife of 34 years, Lee. They have three children and two (beautiful) granddaughters.
Ned Calonge, MD, MPH
Dr. Ned Calonge is the Chief Medical Officer of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, and the State Epidemiologist. He is an Associate Professor of Family Medicine and of Preventive Medicine and Biometrics at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.
At the Department of Public Health and Environment, Dr. Calonge is responsible for supervision of health-related divisions, including the Disease Control and Environmental Epidemiology Division, the Preventive Services Division, the Laboratory Services Division, and the Colorado Health and Environment Information Services Division. Dr. Calonge is a member of the Governor’s Expert Emergency Epidemic Response Committee and chairs the state Bioterrorism Advisory and Hospital Preparedness Advisory Committees.
Outside of the Department, Dr. Calonge is the current Chair of the United States Preventive Services Task Force, a federal panel of experts that sets national recommendations for preventive health care. He is the President of the Colorado Board of Medical Examiners, which licenses and provides regulatory oversight for physicians. He teaches epidemiology, biostatistics and research methods at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. He serves on the Boards of Directors for the Colorado Foundation for Medical Care, the Colorado Patient Safety Coalition, the Colorado Coalition for the Medically Underserved, and the Colorado March of Dimes. At the Colorado Medical Society he chairs the Health Affairs Committee.
Previous to his appointment at the Department of Public Health and Environment in January 2002, Dr. Calonge was the Chief of Preventive Medicine and Research for Kaiser Permanente of Colorado. Dr. Calonge received his BA in Chemistry from The Colorado College, his MD from the University of Colorado and his MPH from the University of Washington; he is board certified in both Family Medicine and Preventive Medicine. Dr. Calonge has published numerous federally funded research articles. He is the 2004 recipient of both the Public Health Award and the Robert Graham Physician Executive Award given by the American Academy of Family Physicians.
Leah Devlin, DDS, MPH
Leah Devlin serves as the State Health Director and Director of the Division of Public Health for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. She was Director for the Wake County Department of Health prior to joining North Carolina DHHS, during which time she was named Health Director of the Year by the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners. She has a degree in clinical dentistry from the University of North Carolina.
Dr. Devlin is active in several professional and community public health organizations.
She served as President of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) in 2005, and she is also a past President of the North Carolina Association of Local Health Directors. She served as President of the North Carolina Public Health Association in 1995, and she has been a Board Member of the University of North Carolina Public Health Foundation since 1996. The North Carolina Medical Society awarded Dr. Devlin the John Huske Anderson Award in 2002 in recognition of her contributions to public health.
Martin D. Fenstersheib, MD, MPH
Dr. Fenstersheib has been the Health Officer in Santa Clara County since 1994 and currently serves as the Vice President of the Santa Clara County Medical Association. He is a current board member and past president of the California Conference of Local Health Officers.
Dr. Fenstersheib has been active in the area of disaster and terrorism preparedness since 1997 working closely with the City of San Jose on the Metropolitan Medical Task Force. He served on the Bioterrorism Committee of the National Association of County and City Health Officials and is a frequent participant on state and national panels on terrorism and preparedness.
Dr. Fenstersheib serves as the Medical Health Operational Area Coordinator in Santa Clara County and is a member of the local homeland security approval authority.
Michael Fraser, PhD
Michael Fraser currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer for the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs. He recently served as the Deputy Executive Director for the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) after re-joining NACCHO in April 2001 as a Senior Advisor working to support the work of local public health agencies nationwide. Prior to returning to NACCHO, Dr. Fraser was a Regional Program Manager/Public Health Advisor with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Program. While with CDC, Dr. Fraser worked with state and local health departments in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions to develop their bioterrorism preparedness and response programs under cooperative agreements with the CDC. Based in Washington, D.C., Dr. Fraser has worked on federal, state, and local public health issues in various capacities including prior positions as a Senior Staff Fellow at the Health Resources and Services Administration and Bioterrorism Program Manager for the National Association of County and City Health Officials. Dr. Fraser has presented at numerous professional conferences and meetings. His recent publications include preparedness planning guidance for local public health agencies, a recent Chartbook on Local Public Health Agency Infrastructure and peer-reviewed articles for Public Health Reports, the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, and Contemporary Sociology. Dr. Fraser earned his Doctorate in Sociology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and is on the adjunct faculty at the University of Maryland’s University College.
Kathleen Gensheimer, MD, MPH
Since 1981, Kathleen F. Gensheimer, M.D., M.P.H., has served as the State Epidemiologist, Bureau of Health, Maine Department of Health and Human Services.
Dr. Gensheimer graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Pennsylvania State University; received her medical degree from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry and her Masters in Public Health degree from the Harvard School of Public Health. Her internship in pediatrics was completed at the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and her residency in public health was completed at the New Jersey Department of Health. Following two years as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer with the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Gensheimer remained in Maine to continue her leadership role within the Maine Bureau of Health.
As State Epidemiologist, Dr. Gensheimer plays a critical and dynamic role with responsibility for providing medical and epidemiological guidance and consultation to the Maine Bureau of Health’s leadership team, medical professionals, diagnostic laboratories, veterinarians and other state level professional, official and voluntary health organizations involved in the control of infectious diseases of public health significance. Her position responds to requests for medical epidemiological assistance within the State of Maine; within the Northeastern United States as well as nationally, directing and/or coordinating special epidemiological surveys and studies; conducting outbreak investigations; providing input on public health policy; bio-emergency and pandemic influenza preparedness efforts.
Dr. Gensheimer is active in several national professional organizations, including the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the American Society of Microbiology, where she has assumed leadership positions. Her special interests have included work on tuberculosis and pandemic influenza planning, where she has worked on specific projects with IDSA, IOM, HHS, CDC, and CSTE.
Lori Grange, JD
Lori Grange is a senior officer in the State Policy Initiatives unit of The Pew Charitable Trusts, where she designs and oversees initiatives that seek to advance data-driven, effective policy solutions at the state level. Ms. Grange conceptualized, developed and oversees the Public Safety Performance Project, Pew’s national sentencing and corrections initiative that helps states advance policies and practices that protect public safety, hold offenders accountable and control corrections spending. She also was instrumental in creating the Pew Center on the States, developed and manages Pew’s death penalty reform initiative, and has led projects on state government performance and medical liability policy, among other issues. Prior to joining Pew in 2000, Ms. Grange was a senior program director at Equal Justice Works (EJW), a national, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. At EJW she oversaw the nation’s largest postgraduate legal fellowship program, with 134 new lawyers undertaking two-year public interest projects. Ms. Grange received a J.D. from the University of California at Berkeley School of Law and a B.A. in journalism and philosophy from the University of Southern California. Before law school, she was a reporter for the Los Angeles Times.
Jerry Rhodes
Jerry Rhodes currently serves as the Deputy Director for the WV Bureau for Public Health's Division of Threat Preparedness. Prior to that, he served many years as a firefighter/paramedic and retired from the Houston (TX) Fire Dept. with the rank of Captain. His experience included field operations, supervision and EMS administration. He then served 7 years as Deputy Director in the WV Office of Emergency Medical Services in a regulatory capacity prior to moving into public health preparedness. He holds a Bachelor's degree in applied Science and Technology and is involved in graduate work in public health at the University of North Carolina.
Mr. Rhodes’ responsibilities within Public Health threat preparedness include assisting in the development of the state health department’s Pandemic Influenza Response Plan as well as the Pandemic Influenza Annex to the WV Emergency Operations Plan. He also has participated in coordination of the State’s Pan Flu Summit with DHHS Secretary Michael Leavitt and presented in the State’s subsequent regional Pan Flu summits. He also chairs a planning workgroup centering on Alternate Medical Care (including care facilities) for the State Pan Flu Planning Team.
Peter Shult, PhD
Dr. Peter Shult received his Ph.D. in Medical Microbiology in 1984 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has been a practicing clinical and diagnostic virologist since 1976 with experience in clinical, research and public health laboratories. He currently serves as the Director, Communicable Disease Division, Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene (WSLH), a position he has held for 10 years. He has also been the Director of Emergency Laboratory Response, WSLH, since 2000. Finally, Dr. Shult serves as the WSLH's Chief Virologist. In addition to his career-long laboratory experience with influenza in both diagnostic and research settings, he serves on a number of state- and national-level pandemic planning committees including the Wisconsin Division of Public Health Public Health Preparedness Committee, the Wisconsin Pandemic Influenza Response Preparedness Planning Committee, the UW-Madison Campus Health Issues (including pandemic preparedness and response) Planning Committee, the CDC Partners for Influenza Preparedness Working Group, the CDC Pandemic Operations Plan Review Committee (Subject Matter Expert), the PHL/CDC Working Group on Influenza Testing Algorithms for Public Health Laboratories and the CDC/CSTE Influenza Surveillance Steering Committee.
Skip Skivington, MBA
Skip Skivington is the Interim Vice President of Supply Chain, Procurement & Supply, Kaiser Permanente, based at the national headquarters in Oakland, California, and is responsible for the executive oversight of Kaiser Permanente’s Supplier Diversity, Nutritional Services, Materials Management, and Healthcare Continuity Management programs.
Since 2000, Mr. Skivington has been responsible for the implementation of a formal healthcare continuity management program throughout Kaiser Permanente which includes all Kaiser Permanente facilities located in 9 states and the District of Columbia. In addition to directing this formal planning process, and immediately following the anthrax attacks in October 2001, Mr. Skivington formed and now directs Kaiser Permanente’s threat assessment program consisting of an executive oversight council, and functional working groups in the disciplines of clinical (physicians, nursing and laboratories), facilities, community linkages, people, legal, communications and education, supply chain and public policy.
Mr. Skivington is a member of the State of California Joint Advisory Committee for terrorism preparedness, and the American Health Insurance Plans’ Disaster Readiness Committee. He is also a member of The Conference Board’s Business Continuity and Crisis Management Council, and is a frequent speaker on the issue of medical preparedness in the event of a terrorist attack.
Following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Mr. Skivington led two Kaiser Permanente medical response teams consisting of physicians, nurses and mental health providers to the Gulf Region at the request of the US Surgeon General, and the State of California.
Mr. Skivington is the contracted project administrator for the Hospital Incident Command System (HICS) revision IV project. HICS IV was updated via a national working group representing hospitals throughout the country along with input from national agencies to include: AHA, JCAHO, HRSA, HHS, and FEMA. He holds both a BA in Business Administration and an MBA.
Phyllis Tan, M. Phil
Phyllis Tan is a staff analyst in Risk Communications for the Bioterrorism Preparedness Program at the Los Angeles County Dept of Public Health. Ms. Tan's work focuses on communications and community relations, and she works closely with businesses, cities and schools throughout Los Angeles County. At LA County, Ms. Tan has the opportunity to be involved with pandemic flu and bioterrorism planning and response. Ms. Tan studied International Security at the University of St Andrew's in Scotland and has been working in the health field for over 10 years. Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is responsible for all public health functions including disease prevention and health protection, including bioterrorism response, for the County's 10 million residents.
Dorothy Frost Teeter, MHA
Dorothy Frost Teeter began at Public Health - Seattle & King County as Chief of Health Operations in July 2002. She served as Interim Director and Health Officer from June 2005 to February 2007 before resuming her position as Chief of Health Operations. Public Health - Seattle & King County is a large metropolitan health department with 2,000 employees, 28 sites, and a budget of over $250 million, serving a resident population of 1.8 million people. Programs and services range from core prevention activity to environmental health, community oriented primary care, emergency medical services, correctional health services, Public Health preparedness, and Community-based Public Health assessment and practices.
Ms. Teeter has over twenty-five years experience working in the health care field. Prior to coming to Public Health she served as a senior executive for Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound, where she was accountable for the design and delivery of population-based, evidence-based health care services for 600,000 enrollees. An experienced health care delivery expert, she has written and presented nationally on the topic of use of epidemiologic principles in the design of chronic disease and preventive health services delivery.
Ms. Teeter served as a senior administrator for the regional pediatric medical center in Seattle where she became knowledgeable about pediatric research and public health practice issues for children, including special needs populations. Ms. Teeter is an experienced health care delivery administrator. Ms. Teeter was owner and principal consultant for a health care consulting practice which specialized in providing strategic planning and program development services for public health organizations, community health centers, and health care delivery organizations. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Health Services, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington. Ms. Teeter holds a Master’s degree in Health Services Administration from the School of Public Health at the University of Washington.
Isaac Weisfuse, MD, MPH
Isaac B. Weisfuse is currently Deputy Commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. He received his BA and MPH from Columbia University, and his MD from the State University of New York at Downstate. Dr. Weisfuse is board certified in Internal Medicine. He began his public health career at the Centers for Disease Control as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer. Since 1987, he has worked in public health in New York City at the Health Department. His current responsibilities include prevention and control of communicable diseases, including HIV/AIDS, TB, and STDs, as well as emergency preparedness, and public health laboratory services, through oversight of the Division of Disease Control. This Division has approximately 1,500 employees, with an annual budget in excess of $350 million. Dr. Weisfuse has extensive public health emergency experience, and served as agency incident commander during the World Trade Center Crisis. He is in charge of pandemic flu planning for the City of New York.