Leon Vinci, director of the Johnson County Health Department, and Cherie Sage, Safe Kids Kansas Coalition, discuss the health department’s literature that they distributed during the Health Day at the Capitol on Thursday.
By Sarah Green
KHI News Service
TOPEKA, March 8
Legislators, state employees and others took advantage of health information and screenings during Thursday”s “Health Day at the Capitol.”
The Association of Health Advocates-Kansas
a collection of health organizations that meet weekly to discuss health happenings around the state
organized the event, which brought local health departments, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, advocacy groups and others to the statehouse to promote healthy lifestyles.
Sonja Armbruster, health promotion coordinator for the Sedgwick County Health Department and the event”s planner, said the day was a good way for health professionals to talk to lawmakers.
“The Legislature makes important decisions that affect the public health of everyone, whether it”s mandatory vaccines for kids in school or mandating booster seats for kids like they did last year,” she said. “They make the budget decisions that affect all of our funding. This is a way for us to say “thank you for all your hard work.””
Barbara Mitchell and Leon Vinci from the Johnson County Health Department said the event allowed them to mix with people who were interested in a variety of health issues.
“We enjoy this,” said Mitchell, director of the department”s health education division. “There”s so much more to public health than people realize.”
“We hope, from our perspective, that the legislators will make health the number one priority,” Vinci, the department”s director, said. “Health is for everyone.”
Legislators and others seemed to be informed about the agencies and asked “good, solid questions” about health topics, said Corrie Edwards, director of the Kansas Health Consumer Coalition.
“We had several people ask where they could go for more information, or how the organizations were representing them today,” she said. “There”s quite a bit of consumer interest.”
A contest sponsored by the Governor”s Council on Fitness brought a good showing of legislators, who wore pedometers
this week
to track the number of steps each walked.
The top three representatives and top three senators won “Healthy Kansas” apparel. The winners from the House were Rep. Mike Burgess, R-Topeka; Rep. Raj Goyle, D-Wichita; and Rep. Eber Phelps, D-Hays. The winning Senators were Sen. Laura Kelly, D-Topeka; Sen. Janis Lee, D-Kensington; and Sen. Marci Francisco, D-Lawrence.
-Sarah Green is a staff writer for KHI News Service, which specializes in coverage of health issues facing Kansans. She can be reached at
sgreen@khi.org
or at 785-233-5443, ext. 118.