The Commissioned Corps: A Force for Good in Flint

The Commissioned Corps: A Force for Good in Flint

April 7, 2016

By: Karen DeSalvo, M.D., M.P.H., M.Sc., Acting Assistant Secretary for Health (ASH) and National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC)

For those of us who have lived through a massive public health crisis in our hometowns, we know that for every video clip you see on the evening news, for every picture on your social media feed, there are thousands of moments you do not see. We know that the real healing in a community begins when the cameras are off.
In Flint – much like other communities in crisis throughout our country’s history – that healing has been made possible, in part, by the work of the men and women of our U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. Each time they are asked, these dedicated officers have stepped up to take on our country’s most pressing public health crises. They are not interested in cameras, just results.
From their first efforts in 1801 (as the Marine Hospital Service) to fight yellow fever, cholera and smallpox, to their more recent efforts in fighting to contain Ebola in West Africa, or  providing mental health services after the terrible tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, the officers of our Corps go where they are needed most.
That is true in Flint as well. Since the start of the crisis, more than 30 Commissioned Corps officers have been on the ground, assisting with behavioral health training, supporting volunteers, and staffing the Genesee County Health Department’s information line. A strike force of Commissioned Corps officers has also worked closely with the Genesee County Health Department to clear a backlog of blood lead level screening results.
READ MORE: The Commissioned Corps: A Force for Good in Flint