PHC: Public Health Issues Committee

Purpose

The purpose of the Public Health Issues Committee, on behalf of the Public Health Council’s vision defined below, is to oversee and support the process for identifying, prioritizing, and acting on defined issues relating to public health in Wisconsin. The charge of this Committee is to make recommendations to the Public Health Council on both issues to be prioritized for workgroup development and actions to be taken by the Council as a result of the workgroups.

The Public Health Council defines itself as an advisory board appointed by the Governor of Wisconsin to ensure every person and community in Wisconsin can be healthy and thrive. The Council’s vision is to serve all communities and citizens of Wisconsin by:

1. Listening to individuals, communities, and critical stakeholders to understand the urgent public health issues and needs.
2. Evaluating key health data sources within and outside of the State Department of Health Services to understand the critical public health issues and needs and how we are progressing to address them.
3. Educating and helping to change, expand, and clarify cultural and community understanding of current public health issues.
4. Informing key stakeholders on prioritized public health issues important to the needs and wants of the public.

The Public Health Council was created by 2003 Wisconsin Act 186 Wis. Stat. §15.197(13) and its statutory purpose is to advise the Department of Health Services (DHS), the Governor, the Legislature, and the public on progress in implementing the state’s 10-year public health plan and coordination of responses to public health emergencies.

Functions and objectives

The Public Health Issues Committee has four distinct, but related functions, that are necessary to fulfill its purpose and charge as described above. These functions are further described with key elements below.

Function 1: Identify and Solicit Issues
Function 2: Prioritize Issues
Function 3: Set Up and Monitor Progress of Workgroups for Issues Prioritized
Function 4: Evaluate Functions 1-3 annually and revise this charter as needed

Membership and roles

The Public Health Issues Committee shall consist of no less than five and no more than seven voting members. Terms for all members will be two years. Ideally, members would be appointed in a way that no more than half of the membership would change in any given year. At least 50% of members should also be members of the Public Health Council. The Public Health Council Chair will, in consultation with the Chair Elect or Executive Committee, appoint the Public Health Issues Committee Chair. The Public Health Issues Committee Chair will, in consultation with the Council Chair or Chair Elect/Executive Committee, be responsible for recruiting and appointing 5 additional members.

Committee roles should include the following:

• Committee Chair
• Public Health Emergency Plan (PHEP) Advisory Committee Liaison
• State Health Plan Liaison
• Equity

Committee roles may include the following:

• Local level representatives from health departments/Tribal health centers and/or healthcare/hospitals.
• Representative from WALHDAB or the Joint Public Affairs Committee.

Committee members

Robert Leischow, Issues Committee Chair
Richard Ferrari Traner
Brian Kazcmarski, Public Health Emergency Plan (PHEP) Advisory Committee Liaison
Eric Krawczyk, Representative from a local health department
Jaime Michael, Representative from WALHDAB and the Joint Public Affairs Committee
Vipul Shukla