Nominations sought for Hometown Health Hero awards

The Michigan Public Health Week Partnership, a collaboration of 12 organizations working to increase the visibility of significant accomplishments in public health, is seeking nominations of individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to preserve and improve their community's health for its annual Hometown Health Hero awards. Hometown Health Hero awards are presented every spring as part of Michigan Public Health Week, April 8-14. Award recipients will be honored at a reception Wednesday, April 10, in the Atrium of Heritage Hall in the State Capitol Building.

Michigan Public Health Week is observed as part of National Public Health Week the first week of April to recognize the contributions of public health and to highlight issues that are important to improving the nation's health. Each year, the American Public Health Association develops a campaign to educate the public, policy makers and health care providers about issues related to that year's theme.

"Everyone deserves to live a long and healthy life in a safe environment," said Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, chief medical executive. "Hometown Health Hero awards are an opportunity to honor those tackling important public health threats and promoting the health and safety of their communities."

Nomination forms can be downloaded from Michigan.gov/mphw. Completed nominations should be sent to Jim Koval via email at [email protected] or faxed to 517-335-8392 by Wednesday, Jan. 31.

The following organizations make up the Michigan Public Health Week Partnership: Eastern Michigan University Master of Public Health in Health Education, Grand Valley State University Master of Public Health Program, Michigan Association of Counties, Michigan Association for Local Public Health, Michigan Association of Medical Examiners, Michigan Health and Hospital Association, Michigan Public Health Association, the Michigan Public Health Institute, Michigan State University Charles Stewart Mott Department of Public Health, the University of Michigan School of Public Health, Wayne State University College of Human Medicine Family Medicine program, and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.