Thursday, October 08, 2009

ULSTER COUNTY HEALTH

It seems unreal. Ulster County will have an actual physician heading the county's Health Department. The wild notion of initiating a worldwide search was usually a metaphor for calling your unemployed cousin in the next town. But in this case, it couldn't be more real.

I'm reading in the Freeman that Executive Hein, with the help of his staff, has selected Dr. La Mar Hasbrouck out of a long list of applicants and will introduce the good doctor via tele-conference next Wednesday.

I'm looking at the credentials here on the screen and find myself astonished that someone with these worldly experiences could be heading a department in Ulster County. He currently runs a national office in South America for the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. And he wants to come here?

Executive Hein got in his quote:
“Dr. Hasbrouck is an incredible addition to the Ulster County team as we look to transform the county Health Department into a truly top-notch health organization. He has deep experience in the public health sector both nationally and globally. I felt like Dr. Hasbrouck was a perfect fit and has the experience to implement my administration’s goal of making Ulster County the healthiest county in the state.”

If you can get past the mandatory negative stuff about Palen in the paper, you'll read about where Dr. Hasbrouck has been and what he has been a part of for the last decade. Amazing background.

With a roughly $5 million budget, about 80 employees, and the daunting task of cleaning up the issues within the department, I'd say he has some serious work ahead of him. It may not be the honorable position with the CDC’s Global AIDS Program that he had in Guyana, but the challenge will place him at the head of the table when it comes to the health of Ulster County.

I'm looking forward to meeting Dr. Hasbrouck in November.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

His credentials are impressive. I think it is a win for us to have him leading the Health Department. Hopefully he plans on staying for a while and this won't just be a quick step up the ladder.

Anonymous said...

Are we to believe our good fortune?
Does this signify the turning point for Ulster County? Is his acceptance of the position here in the Hudson Valley indicate a renewed desire to work & raise a family in Ulster County? We can only hope.

Anonymous said...

Now lets hope that one of the six advisors to the king has a resume like this, and maybe they can teach him something....

Anonymous said...

Dutchess legislators to pay 15% towards health insurance the same should be done in Ulster, along with the employees contributing.

Anonymous said...

Obviously very qualified, probably overly so for the Ulster County Health Department. My back still hasn't recovered from Hillary's high heels when she used us as a rung on a ladder in her quest for the presidency, so I hope that is not the case here.

Anonymous said...

Quit your whining. Ulster County is lucky to get him. Step up the rung of a ladder? One wonders how Ulster County possibly could be this, and yet, odd things happen daily. And if it does, so friggin' what? Get overrrrrrrrrrr yourselllllllf!