Yen Luong of the Cuyahoga County Board of Health

Where would you turn if you found yourself in need (or want) of any of the following? Immunizations prior to international travel? School nurses? Testing for the presence of lead? Nuisance animal control, or dog-bites? Preventing fall injuries for seniors? Septic tank evaluation? Lake water monitoring at area beaches (is it safe to swim there?) Greening of environment for wellness (and food inspections!) Breast & cervical cancer screening? Smoking cessation and prevention... community gardens, watershed protection, emergency preparedness planning and dozens of other community-related issues?

Count yourself lucky if you live in Cuyahoga County, because you can access all the above--and more--with just one phone call. One call to the Cuyahoga County Board of Health (CCBH), which is located these days under one rather large roof in Parma. Actually, the CCBH works in 58 surrounding municipalities to provide all the above services, and more. A reasonable chunk of the income for all these projects comes from the annual contracts between the BoH and the municipalities; some is from grants, some from licenses as well as federal state and local sources.

Yen Luong is working diligently to get the word out that the Board of Health does more than just inspect restaurants. That's almost a standing joke in the community, but it's only one small part of what they do.

Yen was born in Vietnam, but went to Hong Kong when she was one month old, along with her parents and two older siblings. A year and a half later, the family relocated to the Cleveland area, and another brother was born here. Her grandparents were from Guangzhou a place where she still hopes to visit one day with her 90-year-old grandmother. I’m told that the lock on the front door is still a very large wooden block.” Someday, she’ll see for herself.

Of course, the Luong children were expected to excel, and they all have, but they had fun growing up, too. After attending various Cleveland city schools, by the time Yen was ready for high school, the family settled in North Royalton. After graduation, Yen went to John Carroll University for her degree in Biology, and began to work for the County Board of Health. More recently she has completed a Master’s Program in Public Health at Case Western Reserve University in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention. Along the way, she’s worked on both sides of the river, making her one of the few inhabitants of the area who is familiar with both east and west sides of Cleveland!

Now, she’s Marketing and Planning Program Manager for this agency, an extremely well-versed advocate for the myriad functions of this comparatively small office that does so much. As Yen says, “We’re the kind of service provider that you don’t know you need until you need it! What we do here everyday impacts everyone’s life, everyday. We gather information, analyze it, and share the results with the community.”

Community in this case being more than just Cleveland or even Cuyahoga County. Some programs are run in conjunction with surrounding counties such as Dental Options which operates in 14 counties. After all, the motto of CCBH is appropriate for all. “Prevent, Promote, Provide.”

Nearly everyone knows that life expectancy has increased dramatically in the last century -– by 30 years. Public Health, which is part of this County agency, can easily take credit for at least 25 of those years. In the early part of the 20th century, the major causes of death were infectious diseases: influenza, cholera, tuberculosis, chicken pox, measles, etc.

Most of these have been eradicated due to Public Health diligence. Now, the aim has changed, and the goal is to eradicate the new causes of morbidity and mortality: the chronic diseases—heart disease, cancer, and stroke with just three practicums: lifestyle or behavior modification, diet and nutrition and health/wellness screening and early treatment.

In order to achieve their goals, marketing has become a major tool, expanding beyond the usual methods. Earlier this year, the CCBH collaborated with Monica Robbins of TV3 on a telethon to reach women for breast cancer screening.

Other behind-the-scenes efforts involve informing the citizenry about epidemiology while raising the awareness of public health. Yen explains. “Especially since 9/11 and Katrina, public health agencies have been recognized as first responders—the ones first on the ground—along with local police and fire departments. We have been working with all of our communities on emergency preparedness and planning. Internally we have been working on our own strategic planning. We have been monitoring and tracking our performance to make sure we meet our goals and the needs of the community. Voluntary accreditation is coming to local health departments and we want to be ready. When standards are available, we need to meet them. We are doing more than ever to make sure we are providing the right services to improve the health of our communities. This means more education about nutrition, cardiovascular health, immunizations, lead screenings, and of course, smoking compliance. Most people want to do the right thing, but first they need to know what that involves.”

It’s difficult to separate the petite dynamo Yen from the public officer Yen, but persistence does gain a few more tidbits. “I love summer,” she says, with a huge smile on her face. “I like to be active outside, and I run, occasionally. I go to concerts, especially chamber music. I have several friends who either graduated from or are still attending CIM, and the quality of concerts there is very high.”

“I read a lot, but mostly for work, and I enjoy projects that have a definite end!” (She’s just finished a remodeling project at her home, that involved floor tiles.) As she’s thinking, suddenly a huge grin comes over her face. “I eat!” she says, happily. “That’s what I do! Cleveland is such a great restaurant town.” Of course, Chinese food is a great favorite, but there are others, as well. “I like Sushi. A lot. And Tapas, and Indian, and Thai.”

She is also very active in the Asian community. For instance, in June, she was part of the committee that sponsored a chamber music concert at CSU as a benefit for the victims of the massive May earthquake in China. So far, the committee has raised more than $50,000., every penny of which has gone straight to the victims, with no fees deducted at either end. “This was a real grass-roots effort spearheaded by Anthony Yen and Mark Santo” she adds. “This kind of fund-raising is an on-going effort. There is a needs assessment plan for long term relief underway currently. The most heavily damaged portion of China has four seasons of weather similar to Cleveland. They have had to endure a hot and humid summer with downpours in tents. The winter will undoubtedly be hard, and people—especially children—cannot live there during the winter in a tent! We’re trying to increase awareness of these problems.”

Just as Yen works, continually, at increasing awareness of all the things the CCBH does for the residents of this area. One tip that isn’t usually printed anywhere is almost an afterthought. To answer the question, “Where should I eat?” the county now offers a program that highlights the top 10% of restaurants regarding food safety and sanitation called Be Food Safe. You can always call -- and be sure!

The phone number for the CCBH is 201-2000 and their website is http://www.ccbh.net.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Kelly Ferjutz artswriterATroadrunner.com
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