Born in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Fishers Health Department started in April 2020 with a strong focus on that health emergency, along with establishing the services required of any public health department — birth and death certificates, restaurant and public pool inspections, communicable disease tracking and outbreak response.
During an interview at the department’s clinic, 8939 Technology Dr., Public Health Director Monica Heltz said that since 2020, health department and city officials have been able to think beyond the basics required by state law.
“In the last, probably two years, we’ve really been able to think a little bit bigger about what can we do — what are the needs of the community, how can we really meet those needs effectively and what are our best opportunities to do that?” she said. “We’ve spent a lot of time looking at data and gathering community feedback.”
Some of that data showed that 20 percent of the city’s emergency calls were the result of people falling and injuring themselves, she said. That led to establishing a fall-prevention program.
“We have an automated referral process, so when somebody does fall, we call them and offer our services,” she said. “We can install equipment in their home — if that’s what’s warranted after their assessment — and connect them to other resources if they need those.”
Another data-driven initiative is a translation program for city services beyond the health department.
“I think over 15 percent of our residents speak a language other than English primarily in their home,” Heltz said. “A lot of our community agencies and services are realizing that’s a big need to serve a broader community. So, looking at that, we brought in language interpretation software — which we have to have in the health care industry anyway — but we’ve managed to make that available to the whole city.”
Heltz said the ability to collaborate with other departments is one of the benefits of Fishers running its own public health agency.
“It’s kind of a passion area of mine, being able to serve people, and being embedded in the city the way that we are really makes it easier from a health department perspective to have a greater impact, holistically, on people,” she said. “That was one of the aims that (Mayor Scott Fadness) had in creating the health department — how do we strategize to really affect people’s health in a lot of different ways?”
Before spring 2020, Fishers’ public health needs were served by the Hamilton County Health Department.
Heltz noted other collaborative efforts, including action teams made up of representatives from various city departments. The mental health action team, for example, has helped city engineers think about more than the fastest way to move traffic.
“They’re in charge of making the roads go fast, right? But from a mental health perspective, from a quality-of-life perspective, from a health perspective, we want people to be able to walk places,” she said. “So, we have to kind of balance the need to move the cars when they need to go against where should cars not move fast.”
Heltz said the department’s mental health focus has been an important innovation and includes a website with articles, advice and resources for people facing mental health challenges — stigmafreefishers.com — which had more than 10,000 visits in its first year.
The department also provides health education and outreach, going to local schools and setting up shop at the weekly Fishers farmers market on alternating Saturdays.
“People already go to the farmers market — it’s such a hub of activity for Fishers,” Heltz said. “So, instead of trying to host separate events, which is a whole lot more work, we can combine some of (our) activities and special days with the farmers market.”
Special days include a mental health awareness day, Club Day — where residents can learn about clubs they can join — and a community service day for people who want to sign up to volunteer in various ways.
“We have a community filled with people that have moved here from somewhere else, right? Not a lot of people that live here have been born here, so because we’re such a fast-growing community, people are hungry for those kinds of connecting opportunities,” she said. “Anything we can do to facilitate that is going to, by extension, facilitate mental health and wellness in our community.”
Heltz said one of her goals is to make sure the department is serving the whole community, not just certain segments of the population. To that end, the department recently added a position that focuses on promoting physical activity and nutrition for everyone, and is building a maternal health program, funded through the state’s Health First Indiana program.
For more about the Fishers Health Department, visit health.fishersin.gov.
Fishers Health Department services
The Fishers Health Department provides:
- Clinical services: Testing, vaccinations and treatments
- Mental health: Hosting the stigmafreefishers.com website and offering mental health support for businesses
- Birth and death certificates
- Health education and outreach: Mental health first aid training, Naloxone education, nutrition, suicide prevention, school health and the annual teen public health academy
- Fall prevention program: Home visits and assessments, education and help with in-home modifications
- Environmental testing: Open water sampling, mosquito control, pest control, well samples, pool samples and indoor air quality
- Retail food inspection: Inspections and a grading system, with results publicly available at map.fishers.in.us/restaurants
- Permitting: Retail food establishments, public pools and spas, septic systems and private water wells
