Columbia, MD – Maryland’s Commission on Public Health will hold a public listening session for central Maryland on Thursday, June 13, 2024, from 5-6:30 p.m. at the Howard County Health Department at 8930 Stanford Blvd in Columbia. Members of the public are invited to attend the listening session virtually or in person to share their thoughts and offer ideas to the Commission related to public health improvements. Pre-registration to attend the meeting in person or virtually is required using Eventbrite.
The Maryland General Assembly created the Commission on Public Health to review what public health agencies need to serve communities. Commission members come from health departments, community and health care organizations, universities and other local groups. Community volunteers are also members of the Commission. Information about the basic public health capabilities of state and local health departments is currently being collected and analyzed to determine the state’s ability to respond to major public health challenges. The Commission will recommend improvements for public health departments in several areas, including:
- the organization of public health departments;
- how departments use information technology, exchange information with other organizations and collect and report data;
- the people, funding and contract processes departments need to do the work;
- how departments communicate with and engage community members/groups.
Community members who attend the meeting in person will be invited to share their comments with the Commission. Those who attend virtually will have the opportunity to submit their comments in advance, following pre-registration, to be shared with the Commission during the meeting and recorded for the record.
Accommodations for the listening session should be requested through the Howard County Health Department by emailing hchdcommunications@howardcountymd.gov by June 3, 2024. Live captioning will be provided for those attending the meeting virtually.
This is the fourth in a series of five regional public listening sessions across the state. This session, and others like it, will help the Commission identify opportunities to improve the delivery of public health services across Maryland. For more information on the Maryland Commission on Public Health, please visit https://smchd.org/coph/.