Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department Director Dan Partridge, second from right, takes notes during the Public Health System Assessment on Dec. 9 in the Community Health Facility, 200 Maine. About 60 people participated in the all-day assessment. The health department released the results late Friday. It learned the local public health system was lacking in three areas: mobilizing partnerships, evaluating services and having a confident work force.

The Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department is gathering statistics and information to determine the community’s health concerns. It’s compiling the information through an online survey, focus groups and one-on-one interviews.

Director Dan Partridge said he plans to have the data compiled and ready to present to the public in forums in April or May. The health department has hired a full-time analyst, Vince Romero, to help translate the information.

“My hope is that he can help us frame issues in ways that people can understand and connect to and grasp why it’s important because you can get lost in the fog of too much information,” Partridge said.

During Monday evening’s board meeting, Partridge talked about the results of an all-day assessment on Dec. 9, when about 60 community stakeholders evaluated the local public health system, which includes the health department, local clinics, the hospital, law enforcement, drug treatment and policymakers.

The local public health system received low marks for:

• Community partnerships. There are a lot of partnerships between organizations in the community, and they meet often and do a lot of talking, but that’s kind of where it ends. They aren’t doing much to identify problems and, more importantly, solve them.

• Evaluating services. They aren’t making specific health goals and then measuring their progress. The Local Public Health Assessment is a step in the right direction because this is the first time it has been done.

• Confident workforce. Partridge said the participants felt that training was lacking across the system, whether it be doctors or nonprofit clinic staff. For the health department staff, Partridge said they need to be sure they are culturally competent and sensitive to clients’ needs.

The health system received high marks for:

• Diagnosing and investigating health problems, such as the H1N1 flu outbreak.

• Informing and empowering people about health issues. An example would be a health department nurse sharing nutrition information with a family.

• Enforcing public health laws and regulations, such as child care licenses.

Partridge said the high marks were no surprise because they are considered the public health system’s traditional core services.

“The challenge that the board and department has is to branch out from these core three,” Partridge said.

The health department’s goal is to do a better job of providing all 10 essential public health services listed under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Among them are evaluation of effectiveness, accessibility and quality of health services.

In order to help achieve this, the health department is seeking input from the community through a 40-question “Community Health Concerns” survey. It’s available at healthylawrence.org.

Only about 40 people have filled out the survey so far; organizers are hoping for 1,200.

“My fear is that no men will fill it out,” Partridge said with a chuckle. “I can only do it once, and I’ve already done it.”

Besides the survey, the health department is hosting 11 focus groups in various areas throughout the county. They have groups that specifically target Spanish-speaking residents, blacks and the low-income population. There are between nine and 12 people in each group, and they will discuss five or six questions. Those same questions also are being asked to about 30 individuals in one-on-one interviews.

Partridge said it’s important for the public health system to put the information that’s collected to use.

“For me, it’s going to be for naught if we don’t link it to performance outcomes. We have to focus on moving the dial,” he said.