Mid-August has arrived. Are you ready for the public health year to start in the fall?

September is notoriously busy and the most loathed statement of the month is “We should have started working on that before September”.  Loathed but too frequently verbalized.   Through the summer the chant is repeated, “too many people on vacation we will have to wait until they come back”.

When in public health will we get our act together?   Admittedly the health system tends to follow a fiscal year, however too much of public's health work is cyclically based on the seasons and school year.  

Schools starts in just a few weeks.  Influenza vaccine will usually hit the shelves late September, budget cycles will swing into full force.  The academic year brings added teaching opportunities, conferences are in the works, and the usual surge in communicable diseases can be expected late September. 

How prepared are you?

·         Letters to school superintendents and principals on public health programming should be in draft form ready to go by late August

·         University/college education and lecture schedules mostly ready?

·         Are influenza policies and procedures in place?

·         Documentation to support influenza vaccines written and ready for distribution

·         Budget “A” list proposals scoped out for a wishful 5% lift.  “B” list proposals should always be ready in the drawer.  In addition, should budget contractions occur, are the plans for a 5% reduction ready?

·         Have conferences been selected, requested and/or approvals underway?

·         Have summer turnover vacancies been filled and orientation will be completed prior to the fall?

In public health we have a sense of pride in prevention. 

Take a few minutes to prevent the annual September downpour and position yourself for thriving come the fall.