For Immediate Release CONTACT: Frank Kellogg, (440) 350-2543
August 30, 2011 Lake County General Health District
LAKE COUNTY GENERAL HEALTH DISTRICT BOARD OF HEALTH
LEADERSHIP CHANGE ANNOUNCED
The Lake County General Health District (LCGHD) Board of Health is pleased to announce a change in leadership among the Lake County Board of Health members. At their August 19, 2011 regular meeting, Board of Health members elected Mr. Jim Pegoraro as Board of Health President and Dr. Lynn Smith as President Pro Tem, who would serve if for any reason the President was not able. For Jim Pegoraro and Lynn Smith, this was essentially a swapping of leadership positions because Dr. Smith had served the maximum number of terms as Board of Health President according to Board of Health by-laws.
Jim Pegoraro has served two separate terms as Board of Health President (1985-1993) and one term as President Pro Tem (2009-2011). As a representative of Mentor, Mr. Pegoraro has been on the Board of Health for nearly 21 years. Dr Lynn Smith has served on the Lake County Board of Health for 28 years since its merging with Painesville City Health Department in 1983 and served as President from 1998 to 2011. Dr. Smith has also served Lake County as Coroner since 2008.
Jim Pegoraro noted that he is excited and proud to once again be able to serve the Board of Health as President. “We are in a challenging economic time to deliver increasingly needed preventive public health services to Lake County residents while simultaneously seeing declining state and federal funding. The LCGHD staff has proven themselves to be sufficiently dedicated and talented to overcome these funding challenges. I trust that I will be able to follow Dr. Smith in his leadership footsteps, as well as in assisting the LCGHD as it moves forward with voluntary, national accreditation.”
In Ohio, each of the 125 local health departments are formally led by a local Board of Health that meets monthly and is made up of community members. At least one of these members must be a physician. In Lake County, the Board has 14 members that represent the nine Cities, the nine Villages, five Townships and the licensed community, including food service, swimming pools and marinas, of Lake County.
More information on the Board of Health, the LCGHD and their programs and services can be found at www.lcghd.org, while information on national accreditation can be found at www.phaboard.org/.
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