The Greendale Health Department was established in 1939 at its first location, a one-room office in the Village Hall. was the department’s initial hire as Greendale’s first school nurse. As the population and the health needs increased, she became the first Village Nurse. In 1941, Dr. Ralph Barnes joined the Health Department. Hensley started a Well Baby Clinic providing examinations, counseling, and immunizations. The staff continued to grow with the hiring of Dr. Eli Gecht, who joined the staff and became the first Health Officer in 1951, and Elaine Miller R.N. as the first Public Health Nurse Administrator in 1962. Miller expanded the Health Department to meet the needs of a rapidly growing community through communicable disease control, immunizations, health promotion and disease prevention, maternal and child health programs, screening programs, school health and community education. Many of these programs are still in existence in some form today. In the spring of 1989 the Village board purchased Drews Dime Store Building, originally built in 1938 as a food, variety and drug store cooperative. This would be the new site for the public library, the Greendale Health Department, the Greendale Historical Society and a community meeting room. The building was to be known as the Municipal building. This building is now known as the Community Learning Center and houses the Library, the Health department, and Park and Recreation. The goal of public health is to promote the highest level of well- being for all groups of people in the community. Greendale Health Department provides a variety of programs and services aimed at preventing or reducing health problems and promoting optimum health for individuals, families, and the community. Health Department services are available to all residents of the Village of Greendale. The role of the Health Department is to protect against environmental hazards, prevent epidemics and spread of disease, promote and encourage healthy behaviors, respond to disasters and assist in recovery, prevent injuries and protect the community, assure quality and access to health services. The Health Department partners with many community groups, that encourage physical activity, nutrition, support innovative ideas to promote healthy aging, reduce youth use of alcohol and marijuana, and to reduce social addiction-related stigma. GHD Social Media Policy: The use of social media is to provide community members and stakeholders an alternative method of accessing credible, science-based health information and other public health related messaging. The purpose of this policy is to guide staff use of online media to provide relevant, useful, and credible information to prevent disease, promote health literacy, and protect our community as a whole.
-Social media will be used to share clear, actionable, timely, and relevant public health messaging.
•Messages will be created with an equity lens and will be respectful and encouraging.
•Postings will be evidence/research based and a link to the resource(s) will be provided in the post.
•The use of social media is not meant to share staff opinions, thoughts, or health misinformation.
•The use of social media is meant to provide information to the community. The use of social media is not intended for providing public health services online or engaging in public health discussions. o By utilizing social media to share information in addition to printed media, website, lobby displays, and community outreach events, we are ensuring residents may access our information in multiple ways.
•No commenting will be allowed on health department social media postings. If a resident has further questions about a post, the resident is encouraged to call the health department (414-423-2110), email the general inbox ([email protected]), or may stop in our office during business hours (Monday through Friday, 8am until 4:30pm)
• Other organization’s posts and/or events may be shared if the original post is by:
o Village of Greendale department
o Another local jurisdiction’s health department or other department
o State of Wisconsin Department
o Non-profit community organization
• If sharing another organization’s posts and/or events, the post/event must be
o Not for profit
o Health related
o Evidence-based
