Map Of Springfield Mo

Springfield draft public health plan depends on individual initiative

Sixth in a series on the city's draft 20-year strategic plan.

Considering the rancor over an ordinance to ban smoking in indoor places in Springfield, it's hard to imagine a chapter of the city's strategic plan with more pitfalls than the proposals to improve public health.

Quite possibly, though, few chapters are more important. After all, lives are at stake.

And the quality of life. And a possible answer to the unsustainable pace of increases in the cost of health care.

The committee drafting a plan for public health had no road map to guide them, as this is the first time the issue has been included in the city plan. The proposed vision for 2030 is straightforward: "To develop and sustain a healthy community where everyone can thrive."

That would include:

» "A commitment to personal, family, and employee health and wellness."

» "All citizens, regardless of age, disability or neighborhood will have access to affordable, fresh, and healthy foods."

» "All neighborhoods will be connected through a comprehensive network of complete streets (meaning, compatible with cars, pedestrians of all abilities, bicycles and buses) and Greenway trails."

» "The community will exercise sound preventive health and chronic disease management measures, which will result in a decrease of the chronic disease burden, a decrease in youth and adult obesity, and an increase in our community's overall health status and quality of life."

Admittedly, the committee's projected results sound a bit like Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon, "where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average."

The draft plan hopes for a healthier community, where "children will be better prepared for education and adults will be better prepared for work. Ultimately, this will result in a decrease in student and employee absenteeism and an increase in school graduation rates and employee productivity."

While the plan includes many ideas and objectives in support of the vision, the committee recommends the establishment of a Public Health and Wellness Advisory Council to promote prevention and wellness, to provide coordination and to develop, implement and evaluate strategies of the plan.

The responsibility for success, though, will depend on individuals embracing the goals, along with policies and programs from schools, employers, developers, public agencies and private health care providers.

sentcherado: Springfield Missouri Map

If we don't fix the backlogs then age out will be irrelevant. Let's imagine that H1B quota is increased, and EB3 ROW never becomes current because of more H1B ROW newbies. Then EB3 India will never get any spill over. In this case new India EB3 applications could easily have a 25 year wait, by which time the primary petitioner will have retired invalidating the whole application. Thus you can see that increasing H1B quota works against us (although the official position is no position). There are other issues worthy of targeting, but they too complicate things, and risk us not getting a seat at the table. For example banning consulting. This could force many to leave, including their children, through not fault of their own. I think that consulting should at very least be grandfathered, and have some other exceptions. But again pushing that would be a distraction.

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