WINFIELD, W.Va. — The Putnam County Health Department is in the middle of a public health survey which aims to shape the future of public health initiatives for the county in the years ahead.
Each county is required by law to conduct a health survey periodically, but for Putnam County, spokesman John Law said it’s been several years since the last one.
“This will give the Putnam County Board of Health some good guidelines on what to use in making decision in the upcoming couple of years,” said Law.
Although there haven’t been any local public surveys in recent years, national surveys by the Pugh Research Center and Kaiser Family Foundation have revealed strong results for the county.
“They both say Putnam County is the healthiest county in the state,” Law explained. “Putnam County may have some different priorities than other counties, but still have good public health population priorities we can use to formulate plans.”
The surveys are being conducted in a variety of ways. There is an online portal where the public can log on and take the survey. Health Department officials are also contacting members of civic organizations in the county like the Rotarians and Lions Club in hopes of getting more surveys into the hands of respondents. Law added the surveys are also on a card which if scanned will take you to the survey.
“We are doing it in as many ways as we can,” Law explained. “Because we want to involve as many people as we can.”
They surveys started June 1 and should wrap up by the middle of August.