North Central Health District

Environmental Health Director Receives Award

Posted March 28, 2016 by NCHD Admin

Carla Coley

After 16 years of working in environmental health at the county and district levels, Carla was named the District Environmental Health Director (DEHD) in February 2011.  In the almost five years since she has been the DEHD, she has developed the competence and professionalism of the district environmental health workforce, promoted new environmental health initiatives, and actively coordinated with other public health programs.

In April 2013, Carla approached Dr. David Harvey, District Health Director, for a study group of EHS preparing for the rigorous Registered Environmental Health Specialist (REHS) exam.  The study group would meet every Friday afternoon for six months.  With Dr. Harvey’s blessing, Carla offered the opportunity to her EHS staff, obtained study materials, arranged for input from subject matter experts, and participating as a member herself inspired the group to stick with it.  In November 2013, the study group members took the REHS exam with a high success rate.  Currently, the North Central Health District has 13 REHS out of 36 staff (36%) which is more than any other district in the state.

Recognizing that the relatively low salaries paid to entry level EHS was a major factor in not being able to retain staff, Carla advocated for the district to adopt and implement the EH salary scale put forth by the Department of Public Health in 2013.   The cost of continually training new staff was huge.  Because of Carla’s persistence and her diligence in pointing out the ongoing cost to the district of training new EHS only to lose them within a year or two, the district executive leadership approved the adoption of the DPH EH salary scale, and it was implemented in August 2015!

Carla has formed several EH workgroups for specific projects.  Over several years, the Body Art workgroup worked on a model county body art rule that would be presented for adoption to all 13 county boards of health.  The body art rule was well-researched and went through many drafts to ensure that it was comprehensive and had input from those in the industry.  One unique aspect of the rule is that inspections of body art studios will include a public health nurse along with an EHS.  To date, 12 of the 13 Boards of Health have adopted the Body Art rule and are implementing it in their counties.  The North Central Health District rule is being considered as a model for a state Body Art rule.

Under Carla’s guidance, nine EHS in the North Central Health District, including Carla, have been certified as Healthy Homes Practitioners.  The North Central Health District was one of only two districts in the state that was awarded a comprehensive asthma control grant in 2014.  Carla worked closely with the District Health Promotion Coordinator and the District CMS Coordinator in writing the grant and in planning for implementation.  This program is a great collaboration between EH, CMS, and Health Promotion.

Carla is deserving of the Environmental Health Specialist of the Year award because of her accomplishments in developing the district EH workforce, introducing new EH initiatives to address public health problems, and strengthening collaboration with other public health programs.

Congratulations Carla on a job well done!!!!