Nassau County Department of Health was honored with a Model Practice Award at the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) July 2017 Annual Conference. The Nassau County Lifeguard Certification Program was one of 41 health departments across the nation to receive this prestigious award for developing programs that demonstrate exemplary and replicable best practices in response to a local public health need. The department was also honored with two Promising Practice Awards.
The Division of Public Health Emergency Preparedness was recognized for Quality Improvement: Utilizing After-Action Reports and Improvement Plans to Enhance Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response. Health Commissioner Dr. Lawrence Eisenstein received his own award for “Coffee with the Commissioner,” Engaging the Public Health Workforce in Governance, Leadership and Organizational Culture.
“I am extremely proud of the Department of Health and I congratulate Commissioner Dr. Lawrence Eisenstein and his team for being national leaders in public health,” said County Executive Ed Mangano. “The Nassau County Department of Health has consistently been recognized as a national leader for developing responsive and innovative programs that promote and protect the health and safety of the residents of Nassau County.”
The Nassau County Lifeguard Certification Program was established as a quality assurance component for the certification of lifeguards to ensure that they possess the required skills and abilities needed to provide the highest level of bather safety possible. The Nassau County Lifeguard Certification Program utilizes an established, nationally recognized lifeguard certification as a prerequisite to taking a Nassau County lifeguard performance test and obtaining a Nassau County lifeguard certification.
In addition, Nassau County Department of Health created a partnership with local stakeholders and formed the Nassau County Water Safety Advisory Committee. This Committee meets quarterly to discuss all matters related to lifeguarding and bather safety.
The Nassau County Department of Health continues to be a national leader in public health, and since 2013 has earned 12 Model and Promising Practice Awards. To read more about these award-winning programs, visit the NACCHO website at www.naccho.org/topics/modelpractices.
The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) represents the nation’s 2,800 local government health departments. These cities, counties, metropolitan, district and tribal departments work every day to protect and promote health and well-being for all people in their communities.
