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Celebrating
Public Health Partners & Heroes
April 08, 2009
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Galveston County and
Cities – The Galveston County
Health District’s observance of National Public Health Week and
National Immunization Week will include recognition of Hurricane Ike Public
Health Heroes, presentation of Gold Ribbon Awards to food service establishments
recognized for quality food safety practices, and free immunizations. Events
will take Place April 8th at Mall of the Mainland in Texas City,
Carbide Park in La Marque, and GCHD Immunization Clinics in Galveston and Texas
City.
A public health
celebration will be held at Mall of the Mainland beginning at 12 noon. There
will be a variety of health information available from community health partners
and FREE immunizations for adults and children. At 2 p.m. there will be a
ceremony recognizing “Hurricane Ike Public Health Heroes.” Many organizations
have employees that contribute to public health on a regular basis and may not
even be aware of it. These employees became critical during and following
Hurricane Ike by keeping city water systems operating, organizing debris
management, assisting with animal control, or many other things that help
protect the public’s health.
Those public health
heroes already identified for recognition include: Galveston County Judge James
Yarbrough; Brent Walker, Galveston County Sheriff’s Office; Clint Wayne Brown,
Precinct 7 Deputy Constable; Mr. Don Kemp, Galveston County Sheriff’s Office;
Bill Kerber, City Manager, City of Kemah; Jim & Lynda Guidry, Guidry News
Service; Tim Turner, General Manager WCID 8; David Loop, Chief, Crystal Beach
Volunteer Fire Department; Lloyd Rinderer, Assistant City Manager, City of
Galveston; Joe Sullivan, R. Ph., Sullivan Pharmacy, Bacliff; Ted Zompa, MD,
FACEP, West Isle Urgent Care, Galveston; Myrna Reingold, Galveston County Legal
Department.
Assistance in planning
the event has been provided by preventive medicine residents from UTMB’s
Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, Coastal Area Health
Education Center (AHEC), and Galveston County Regional Outreach Public Health
and Education Services (R.O.P.E.S).
Free immunizations will
also be available in the Galveston Immunization clinic at 4700 Broadway, 10 a.m.
to 2 p.m., and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.; and in the Texas City Immunization clinic at
2000 Texas Avenue in the Family Community Center from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.,
and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
“As Hurricane Ike showed
us, it takes the whole community to protect the public’s health. Our partners
are essential and we are pleased to recognize them. When protecting the
public’s health is done well and there are no illnesses, the important daily
efforts of partners and staff may be invisible and unrecognized by the general
public. Much valuable effort goes on behind the scenes to keep our community
safe and healthy.” says Dr. Mark Guidry, CEO of the Galveston County Health
District. “We hope that this event will make visible the excellent work of
many people in our community dedicated to assuring that our community is as
healthy and safe as possible.”
“Gold Ribbon” awards for
excellent food service will be presented during a ceremony at the Wayne Johnson
Community Center in La Marque beginning at 6:30 p.m. Galveston County Judge Jim
Yarbrough and County Health Authority, Dr. Mark Guidry will be on hand
to congratulate 49 2009 recipients, while Health District staff distribute the
awards. The awards were initiated 13 years ago to identify food service
establishments that show exemplary compliance with the Texas Food Establishment
Rules as enforced by the Galveston County Health District.
Health District
sanitarians inspect more than 1,500 licensed food service operations in
Galveston County to assure food safety and protect the health of
consumers. Award criteria includes: establishment must actually prepare food,
maintain a record of satisfactory food temperatures, must have no confirmed food
borne illness complaints, must have at least one certified food service manager
employed, must have no significant number of demerits, must have a good cleaning
and maintenance program, have evidence of staff discussions or training, and
show special effort to comply with the rules by the use of food safety aids.
After going through an
approval process, environmental management staff examines the nominated
establishment's file and sanitation history. They then visit the nominee for an
on-site evaluation of the operation.
“We take this opportunity
every year to let people know there are food service operators in the community
that do a great job,” say Martin Entringer the District’s manager of Consumer
Health Services. “Community feedback tells us that people like to know which
restaurants and food service providers have safe and exemplary practices.
This good news is shared annually through Gold Ribbon Awards."
2009 Gold Ribbon
restaurants and preschool recipients by community are:
Bacliff:
Big D’s Texas Style BBQ
Dickinson:
Bay Area Recovery Centers #3 & #4,
Children’s Choice Child Care, Dickinson BBQ, Sesame house Chinese & Vietnamese
Friendswood:
Primrose School of Friendswood, Starbucks
Coffee #6400
Galveston:
Café Michael Burger, Gino’s Italian
Restaurant & Pizzeria, McDonald’s #16167, Rainforest Café
Hitchcock:
El Sombrero Restaurant, Harborwalk Yacht
Club Restaurant
La Marque:
Galveston County Department of Parks and
Senior Services
League City:
Kid City #1 & #2, Kids R Kids #29, Panda
Express #1244, Primrose School of South Shore
Santa Fe:
Kids & Company
Texas City:
Ashton Parke Care Center, Childworks, COM Child Development Lab, LMC Child
Development Lab
Gold Ribbon schools by
District:
Dickinson ISD:
K.E. Little Elementary, Dickinson High
School, Dunbar Middle School, Hughes Elementary, San Leon Elementary
Clear Creek ISD:
Brookside Intermediate, Stewart Elementary, Wedgewood Elementary, Goforth
Elementary, Gilmore Elementary, Ross Elementary, Hyde Elementary, Victory Lakes
Intermediate
Friendswood ISD:
Windsong Intermediate, Zue Bales
Intermediate
Galveston ISD:
Gladnieo Parker Elementary, Rosenberg
Elementary, Weis Middle School
La Marque
ISD:
Simms Elementary
Santa Fe ISD:
Kubacak Elementary, Cowan Elementary,
Santa Fe High School
Texas City:
Roosevelt Wilson Elementary, Texas City High School
Kurt Koopmann
Public Information Officer
Galveston County Health District
(409) 938-2211 or (409) 392-0007
kkoopman@gchd.org
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