2024 Health Care Champions Health Care Organization – Midsize: Springfield-Greene County Health Department

In many ways, the overall health and wellness of the community is in the hands of the Springfield-Greene County Health Department. Its goal is to help all residents live longer, healthier, happier lives.

To accomplish that, according to Whitney Mann, coordinator of the office of communications and outreach, the Health Department provides an array of no-cost services, including care for mothers and infants, testing for sexually transmitted diseases, tracking infectious diseases, providing immunizations and ensuring food safety. But within each of these broad categories are targeted efforts to reach those most in need of support.

The department starts with data. Every three years, the Ozarks Health Commission, a collaborative effort spanning three states, according to its website, publishes regional health assessments. The Health Department led the 2022 assessment in our region, Mann says, to identify key needs in Greene, Christian and Webster counties.

Maternal and child health care, long a priority, was identified as a special concern in the resulting Community Health Improvement Plan. The outcome is the launch this summer of Family Connects, an evidence-based free home visiting program for families with newborns in Greene County. Using trained nurses, Family Connects acts as a safeguard to parents and babies when health risks are highest during the early postpartum period.

“By focusing on the well-being of mothers and children at their start, we aim to foster healthier generations and stronger family units across Greene County,” Mann says.

The department leverages a variety of strategic partnerships to serve the most people. These partnerships often are formed to respond to emergent needs, such as working with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services to combat rising syphilis rates. It is also working with local business leaders and others to address the disparities in suicide rates among males in Greene County.

“In 2023, we began a partnership with Burrell, Community Partnership of the Ozarks and Community Foundation of the Ozarks to address disparities in suicide rates among males in Greene County,” Mann says. “We spearheaded a communications campaign geared at encouraging conversation around men’s mental health beginning with a simple question: “Hey Man, You Good?” As we enter year two of this project, we are fostering connections with local business leaders to help make these conversations more common and comfortable in places where men gather and work.” 

As advocates of the notion that health goes beyond health care, the department can connect patients and others to a Community Health Advocate to assist with finding housing, accessing food resources, getting healthcare referrals and navigating employment opportunities.