Tri-Town Health Director Retires
 James Wilusz, far left, is returning to the Tri-Town Health Department to replace longtime director Peter Kolodziej. |
Kolodziej, a 37-year veteran director of the county's only regional health department, was surrounded by colleagues and well-wishers and those hoping to catch a glimpse of him before he left the office for retirement.
Despite the bittersweet tidings, Kolodziej was confident that the department would "continue to be in good hands" with incoming director James Wilusz, who has headed Pittsfield's Health Department for the past three years.
"We have some very passionate board members who have the same vision and enthusiasm that I do," he said. "I feel really good about what's in place. We've still got grants coming in despite the tough economy and I'm pretty sure the CDC is probably pleased with what we're doing. We've always been quick on our feet and we've always looked at the trends long before they were key issues."
Some of these key issues — childhood obesity, hypertension, tobacco use — continue to plague the county. According to the health statistics released in January, Berkshire County ranked 11th out of 14 counties across the state in terms of health outcomes. This in addition to high percentage rates when it comes to tobacco use (20 percent) and teen pregnancy (25 percent). While these challenges are not new ones, said Wilusz, they cannot be swept under the table or ignored.
"I am very familiar with the needs of this region," said Wilusz, who worked with Tri-Town before taking on the long vacant director's position in Pittsfield. "We need to build upon our existing resources in order to keep our programs going. We've set the template for regionalization and we need to really educate our key stakeholders that public health is critical and crucial to the community. Health care costs are killing municipal budgets and we need to identify new resources in order to keep our programs going."
Programs such as Be Well Berkshires, the Food Policy Committee and a Healthier Dining Resolution are among those that Wilusz hopes to continue to develop. Both he and Kolodziej credit the grass-roots participation of many area organizations with the Health Department's success in getting the word out about healthy lifestyles.
"It's the grassroots that got tobacco regulations in the area," Kolodziej said. "It's local people and the towns that are doing this — the selectboards, the teachers in the schools, the chefs. Lifestyle changes take time. We need some real champions to continue to work with the public."
Making the department ever-more accessible is something Wilusz takes very seriously. He said he has learned — especially when coordinating H1N1 flu clinics and vaccination days in the county's center — that not everyone can be reached, not yet.
"One thing I learned from H1N1 is that no matter what we do in terms of outreach there is always a small population in the community that we can't access for some reason," he said. "We need to understand those barriers to access and break them down and see what works in every community. We need to keep fighting the battle and to be transparent and accessible to everyone."
