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6 GROUNDCOVER NEWS PUBLIC HEALTH JANUARY 9, 2026 Left to right: Dr. Graham Smith,Clinical Assistant Professor in the U-M Department of Emergency Medicine. Jimena Loveluck, Health Officer at Washtenaw County Health Department. Kristen Schweighoefer, Environmental Health Director at Washtenaw Health Department. Dr. Juan Marquez, Medical Director, Washtenaw and Livingston County Health Departments. Connection of Washtenaw Health Department to Healthy People 2000 Initiatives (part two) In the last edition of Groundcover, I wrote an article about the Healthy Peoples Initiatives, which started as a policy of the Department of Health and Human Services in 1990 (Healthy People 2000) and were renewed every ten years. I want to establish some of the background of these policies. Healthcare policy debates During the early 1970s, President Richard Nixon issued several proposals for a National Healthcare solution in order to reduce the cost of healthcare and expand universal access. Those policy debates led to the 1973 Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) Act of 1973. That particular legislation sparked a lot of debates. There were people in the government and businesses who claimed that the 1973 act seemed to resemble the British National Health Service, which was not very popular among conservatives. In the 1980s, the health policy debates continued with the focus on cost, universal access, elderly healthcare and healthcare for poor children. With the election of President Bill Clinton in 1992, the health policy debates started again with more momentum. Hillary Clinton was asked to be the leader of the Clinton administration’s push for a universal healthcare act. The health policy debates of the 1990s were very acrimonious. However, during the end of President Clinton’s presidency, Congress passed three bills which propelled the Healthy People’s Initiatives designed and implemented by the office of the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Key Healthy People 2000 legislation included the Children’s Health Act of WILL SHAKESPEARE Groundcover vendor No. 258 which they prepare for the County government. Black children are six times more 2000; the Minority Health and Health Disparities Research and Education Act of 2000; and the Public Health Improvement Act of 2000. These helped to fulfill the administrative goals of the Healthy People Initiatives. Washtenaw County Health Department responses To move these policies forward, the Washtenaw County Health Department initiated partnerships with University of Michigan, Livingston County, Trinity Health, and Chelsea Hospitals. A new partnership started in 2025 between the University of Michigan School of Public Health and the Washtenaw County Health Department; it is intended to help develop a professional practice for the students to work with staff members and also with the members of the Washtenaw County community. Students from the School of Public Health get their practical community health experience by working on the Washtenaw County Health Department’s priorities in the community. The health department’s priorities are based on their annual reports, likely — and Hispanic children nearly three times more likely — to grow up in poverty than their white peers, according to the Washtenaw County press release of 2018 authorized by Susan Cerniglia, Health Department Communication Manager. The press release continued, “The Washtenaw County opportunity index shows that there is a nine-year difference in life expectancy between Ann Arbor’s 48104 zip code and Ypsilanti’s 48198 zip code.” The bad news about the County’s health in 2018 continued with the following recommendations made: “In order to end these health inequities, we must focus on more than just individual health care and behaviors. One in seven Washtenaw County residents are food-insecure, according to the rankings. The County was ranked at the bottom for air pollution and violent crimes; these are issues that must be fixed systematically." During the COVID-19 epidemic, many Washtenaw County families and individuals faced serious mental health issues. After the pandemic, it was noted that the County continued to have greater mental health challenges such as anxiety, depression and social anti-stigma and peer support events; and jail programming where the Justice Project Outreach Team provides mental health services and substance abuse support. The Washtenaw County Health Department has been following all the health policies debates since the 1990s with healthcare assessments. In 2023, they added a focus on eliminating disparities in healthcare access and improvements in food security, including emphasis on providing housing for the homeless, to their ongoing focus on mental healthcare. Just like the Healthy People Initiatives, the WCHD has moved to emphasizing social determinants of health. One of these is the number of people who died from gun violence. Graduates of the University of Michigan Medical Sociology program, such as Dr. David Williams of Harvard University’s School of Public Health and Dr. Thomas LaVesit, Dean of Tulane University School of Public Health, have been national leaders in this area. On Oct.29, 2025, mlive.com pubisolation. The County’s key mental health issues, which WCHD is continuing to address, include: anxiety and depression, youth mental health, suicide and service gaps. The key Community Mental Health initiatives include: #WishYouKnew Campaign, whereby CMH promotes dialog and connects families to resources; parent workshops; schoolbased programs providing support for lished an online article titled “Where are the healthiest places to live in Michigan?” which noted, “Life is generally healthiest in Northwest Michigan and outside Detroit in Livingston, Washtenaw and Oakland Counties according to a new data-heavy analysis by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.” The 2023 rankings showed that Washtenaw County ranked among the top tier for “factors like health outcomes and social determinants of health.” (The most recent is the 2024 report.) The County continued to be challenged by the issues of health see PUBLIC HEALTH page 15 

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