HR1055 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1055 LRB098 21091 MST 58870 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives wish to congratulate J. Maichle "Mike" Bacon on his retirement as Public Health Administrator of the Winnebago County Health Department; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Bacon has dedicated his exceptional 43-year professional career to the integration of personal health care and community-based preventive health services for health improvement, planning, and effective management of preventive health programs; this includes chronic, infectious and cardiovascular disease prevention, health promotion, environmental health, epidemiology, and the interrelatedness and the application of physical and health sciences in prevention and population-based health services; and

WHEREAS, Since the beginning of his career in 1971, Mr. Bacon has passionately made strides in improving the local public health system-particularly in the areas of environmental health, maternal-child health, infectious disease prevention and control, emergency preparedness, management and budgeting; and

WHEREAS, Bold actions were taken by Mr. Bacon in establishing progressive approaches deemed by State and federal authorities as models for others, e.g., a community health needs assessment and a comprehensive, community-wide approach to controlling tobacco use by minors; and

WHEREAS, Many of the innovative, successful programs developed by Mr. Bacon and the Winnebago County Health Department earned recognition and prestigious awards, including the Samuel J. Crumbine Award for the best local food protection program in the country, the Centers for Disease Control Outstanding Achievement Award for the breast cancer education and screening initiative, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) Excellence in Community Leadership Award for the black male health program to target health inequities and the IDPH Statewide Excellence in Pediatric Care Community Service Award for providing the clinical care component of a local refugee program; and

WHEREAS, In efforts to address some of the community's most significant health problems, Mr. Bacon and the Winnebago County Health Department worked with local partners to develop new grant-supported initiatives focusing on areas such as maternal-child health, chronic disease prevention, school-linked health, public safety, and lead poisoning hazard remediation; and

WHEREAS, In over 30 presentations at State and national professional conferences and more than a dozen publications, Mr. Bacon shared relevant lessons learned and important research findings; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Bacon has gracefully made countless contributions to the modern public health system through his dedicated involvement in local, regional, State and national professional and membership organizations and academic institutions; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Bacon served as President of the Illinois Public Health Association and was the impetus for a number of important and successful initiatives including the realignment of maternal and child health services at IDPH, the development of a white paper and policy resolution that would implement a local health protection and health promotion block grant, the development of key policy recommendations to prevent acts of violence related to firearms, and the overall strengthening of IPHA's policy and advocacy efforts to promote and protect the public's health; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Bacon was one of the founding board members of the Northern Illinois Public Health Consortium, which is one of the many organizations profoundly grateful for the vision and impact he has made in advocacy efforts promoting core public health; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate and honor J. Maichle "Mike" Bacon for being an outstanding public health professional; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Maichle Bacon as a symbol of our respect and esteem.