More news in the good-for-Minnesotans (and GREAT for MCH) category…

Edward Ehlinger — former medical director at the University of Minnesota’s Boynton Medical Center and adjunct faculty at the School of Public Health — was recently appointed Commissioner of Health by Governor Mark Dayton.

Ehlinger is a stalwart proponent of public health, one who regularly speaks out about health disparities here in the Midwest and acknowledges the important role of policy in ensuring good health for all. If you’re curious about his stance on health reform, preventative care, or the importance of collecting surveillance data, I recommend recent episodes of his local access television show. Archives of “A Public Health Journal” are available online: click here for details.

To read Ehlinger’s 2009 testimony in favor of the Minnesota Health Act, click here: http://muhcc.org/sites/muhcc.org/files/TestimonyEhlinger02-25-09.pdf

To read the MDH’s press release on his appointment, click here: http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/comm/ehlinger/index.html

Ehlinger also wrote a piece in the recently published CityLights (a publication of CityMatCH) celebrating 20 years of that national MCH membership organization, availabe here: http://webmedia.unmc.edu/community/citymatch/CityLights/CityLights2010Conf.pdf

CityMatCH is a freestanding national membership organization of city and county health departments’ maternal and child health (MCH) programs and leaders representing urban communities in the United States. The mission of CityMatCH is to improve the health and well-being of urban women, children and families by strengthening the public health organizations and leaders in their communities.