From the Management Academy Director

Public Health Business Planning: A Practical Guide is based on the highly successful Management Academy for Public Health (MAPH). As the new year kicks off, we are now in the midst of recruiting for the 2009-2010 cohort. We have received a lot of support from the North Carolina Division of Public Health and the local health departments across the state. I recently sent a brief note to several health directors in North Carolina and I wanted to share it.

I want to thank you for your support of the Management Academy for Public Health.
As I attended the North Carolina State Health Director's Conference last week, it was interesting to hear so many speakers reference information presented during the Management Academy.

• As our state health director spoke about becoming the healthiest state, I thought about how carefully each of you considered the needs of your community as you contemplated your MAPH project.
• As Dr. Howard Frumkin, Director, National Center for Environmental Health-CDC, spoke about environmental health risks, his final talking points focused on the fact that Solutions are at hand and Collaborating Creatively and Thinking Broadly are important, I thought about how MAPH encourages each team to collaborate and include a community partner, such as a local physician, social work manager, hospital administrator, or non-profit representative.
• As Dr. Rich Cohn, Director, Health Sciences Research-Global Health Sector at SRA International, spoke about increasing efficiencies, I thought about how your project will focus on increasing efficiencies, while developing community oriented projects.
• As Dr. Gary Cox, President, NACCHO, spoke about what if the price of a dozen of eggs had increased at the same rate as healthcare, the price would now be over $80 for one dozen of eggs, I thought about the importance of being able to provide healthcare services for those that can not afford it.
  

In addition, thank you for carefully considering your projects and your team composition.
I was so pleased to review the applications and see a diverse group of people (racially and by gender). Also, a few of you mentioned that although your team is limited to 5 or 6 participants, you understand that there can be additional health department staff that can provide assistance for the project, so that all of the work is not placed on the shoulders of the team members alone.

I will contact you over the next few weeks in reference to scheduling a conference call to discuss your team project with the business plan coaches. Meanwhile, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.


As you read this and you would like to send a team to the Management Academy, please see www.maph.unc.edu