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An early valentine for LynnWestberg
Lynn Westberg is our resourceful leader - the person who has taken us through both incredible growth and hard economic times to meet community needs.
She has vision - in creating public-health programs and finding caring people to lead them. She jumps in wherever needed. Whether it's advocating in Denver, filling in for a division director, creating community partnerships or giving H1N1 shots, Westberg does it all.
As the Herald recently pointed out, Westberg has overseen the agency's great budget and program expansion over her three decades as director. But what's behind the growth is the real story.
Her commitment to public health came from a deep compassion for the community - that when one of us suffers, we all do - in a moral sense as well as bottom-line dollars and cents. There are countless programs benefiting our community that Westberg initiated or sustained.
One enormous need she recognized was dental services for lower-income children.
Creating and overseeing the dynamic growth of Southwest Smilemakers is one of her most successful contributions. But so is bringing our community the first rural Nurse- Family Partnership program in Colorado and supporting the children's developmental evaluation clinics in our remote corner of the state for 30 years.
When an opportunity arose to provide Latinos in our community with better access to health care - she went for it. Promoviendo La Salud is a highly successful program helping Latinos to prevent and manage chronic disease.
Westberg believes in our community and its willingness to address problems through collaboration.
She secured funding to provide treatment coordination for recovering meth users and to create the Meth Task Force, which educates young people about the dangers of meth use.
Maintaining public-health programs is a difficult task - especially during state budget cuts. When the tobacco program faced drastic cuts, Westberg brainstormed the Smoke-free Diners card. She pounded the pavement, getting restaurants to participate. When funding was restored, it became the Smilemakers Diners Card, supporting another program in need.
Home health is one of her strongest passions, as our elderly face many challenges. These challenges are more manageable when an agency really cares about maintaining each individual's independence as well as supporting caregivers. This care and support benefits the community with reduced emergency-room visits and medical costs.
Westberg is retiring, so this valentine is given with conflicting emotions. Valentines are focused on what you love about a person - their attributes and your gratitude for having them in your life. It's not hard for us as staff to appreciate Westberg's efforts - nor should it be for the community.
Lynn Westberg has made a difference in our community and touched many lives through her leadership at San Juan Basin Health.
If you have a valentine, a story of working with Lynn or how she has affected your life, please send to jlooney@sjbhd. org.
Jane Looney is the communications director for the San Juan Basin Health Department.
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