NORWICH – Members of the Chenango County Health Network and Health Department, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Area Agency on Aging and the Greenway Conservatory Board gathered with approximately 50 colleagues, community partners and New York State Commissioner of Health Dr. Richard Daines for several formal presentations in recognition of National Public Health Week.

Chenango County Health Department (CCHD) H1N1 School/Public Health Initiative Lead Coordinator Barbara McCarty’s presentation on the recent pandemic in particular received the commissioner’s praise, and he awarded CCHD Director Marcas Flindt with the state’s Balto Award, in “recognition for all the great work you’ve done.”

The initiative, which offered 72 clinics in only 75 days last year and provided treatment for all of the county’s schools, was lauded by the commissioner for its innovative approach in addressing the pandemic, and he said it was “important to recognize the terrific work that public health did here.”

Daines also applauded local efforts to combat the state’s obesity problem, through the Chenango Greenway Conservatory Trail and Cornell Cooperative Extension community gardens, and said that the “emphasis on physical activity feeds right into our agenda for combating obesity.”

Speakers for both programs stated that important changes are forthcoming in the near future, including a proposed expansion of the Greenway Trail to incorporate all of the municipalities along the Chenango River between Utica and Binghamton, and expansion of the community garden program to extend into other county communities.

Chenango Health Network Tobacco Program Coordinator James Mutabiilwa reported on the continued success of the county’s Tobacco Prevention Program, specifically the impact of second hand smoke and the changing attitudes towards it in the community. Recent studies, he said, have revealed that an increasing number of people are in favor of “limiting or even eliminating tobacco advertisement in retail environments and limiting smoking in entrance doors, parks, playgrounds and at public events.”