Kane Co. Health department strives for success amid slowdown

As America gets physically fatter while pocketbooks grow increasingly leaner, households struggle to meet the expenses of eating fresh, healthy foods to slim down.

Similarly, a Kane County Health Department deemed fat on personnel last year grew leaner through layoffs. On Tuesday, the health department presented its vision for how it will still move toward its goal of having the healthiest residents in the state on an even thinner budget than last year.

Health department staff met with county board members for three hours to layout somewhat abstract principals behind its plan for the future. The plan entails hiring and retaining highly educated and motivated staff; finding ways to better coordinate health efforts with county departments, local schools, park districts and businesses; and becoming experts at transforming data on what the county's health problems are into action plans.

So far, recent survey data shows county residents say receiving accurate information about proper tuition, being guided toward local opportunities for exercise and having continued access to health insurance in the face of job losses as their three main priorities right now.

For Health Department Executive Director Paul Kuehnert, the largest growing problem is overall lack of physical fitness for a growing number of residents.

"In human history, it's unprecedented," Kuehnert said of the obesity rate.

While that's a tough fact to swallow, so, too, will be any cost increases to the county right now. It closed 2008 in the red. Savings are drying up. Revenue projections continue to be grim. Indeed, board members in small group sessions repeatedly pointed out funding as the No. 1 obstacle right now to embarking on any major new health crusade or department realignment if it requires an outlay of significant cash.

The session closed without attaching any dollar figures to the health department's new plans for greatness. Those will come during future meetings with the county board's Public Health Committee.

Gerald Jones is the chairman of that committee. After the meeting, he said everything starts with the bottom line right now.

"That's really where the rubber meets the road," Jones said. "We can talk about what we have to do and should do, but do you have the resources to do it?"

Budget: Revenue projections grim for department