By LISA HAMPTON
Chair
Los Alamos County Health Council
As Chair of the Los Alamos County Health Council, I wanted to personally invite you to attend the Thursday, Nov. 6 Health Council Meeting at noon, in the Municipal Building, Room 330 (third floor).
We will have our Council Member, Leah Blackwell, Chaplain with Los Alamos Visiting Nurse Service and Grief Group Facilitator, give a presentation. She will explore the topic of grief with us, learning how to cultivate grief education and literacy. She will also discuss how to support others who are experiencing grief and explore ways to move through our own personal journey with it.
We will also have a presentation by Los Alamos County Social Services Division Manager Jessica Strong. This presentation will briefly describe the history and role of the Health Council, the organization and breadth of the Social Services Division, information about services provided and clients served, initiatives currently underway, as well as funding levels and sources (including the Opioid Settlement Funds).
The Los Alamos County Health Council is a state-mandated entity, and because of that has specific deliverables that must be met each year. In 2019, the State of New Mexico established 33 health councils and 10 tribal councils (through the passing of HB 137), which have legislative funding appropriated to them each year for carrying out a set of deliverables that includes education and outreach through the community on a variety of health-related topics.
The state now has a very active and vibrant New Mexico Alliance of Health Councils (NMAHC) that facilitates collaboration between all of the Health Councils, as well as provides training on health advocacy at the state and federal levels. The Los Alamos County Comprehensive Health Plan (CHP) and Action Plan were approved by the County Council in December 2024 and contain short, mid, and long-term Action Items designed to help improve the health of our community and region.
We are a 15 member board (council) and there are currently several vacancies. You do not have to have a medical background to serve. The link to apply is found here: https://www.losalamosnm.us/Government/Leadership/Boards-Commissions. Please come learn more about who we are and what we do!
Our monthly meetings take place 12-1:30 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month, in a hybrid format, at the Municipal Building and on Zoom. Most meetings include a presentation from a community member focused on a relevant/current health topic, and updates from the Health Council, SSD staff, and our County Council liaison. All meetings are open to the public. If you would like to watch the meeting virtually, the Zoom link will be found in that month’s Health Council Meeting agenda on the County’s Legistar Calendar: https://losalamos.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx.