ST. AUGUSTINE, FL - Governor Rick Scott and the Florida Sterling Council announced that the Florida Department of Health in St. Johns County (DOH-St. Johns County Health Department) is the recipient of the prestigious Governor’s Sterling Sustained Performance Excellence Award for 2017 during the 25th annual Governor’s Sterling Award Banquet held on June 2nd, 2017.  The Governor’s Sterling Award is the highest award a private or public organization can receive for performance excellence in Florida.  DOH-St. Johns County Health Department is a two-time recipient of the prestigious Governor’s Sterling Award (2009, 2015), and two-time recipient of Governor’s Sterling Sustained Excellence Award (2011, 2017).

“I am proud and humbled to lead and serve with my team of Public Health Professionals as we are recognized for the fourth time as a role model organization in the State of Florida,” said Dr. Dawn Allicock, Director and Health Officer of DOH-St. Johns.  “I believe that the Sterling Baldrige Management Model has enabled us to be flexible and agile, and to respond robustly in a competitive ever-changing world, whether we are responding to Hurricane Matthew through our role at the EOC and operation of the Special Needs Shelter, through our disease investigations and response for diseases such as Ebola and Zika, or through our role as the Chief Health Strategist in leading the St. Johns County Health Leadership Council through Community Health Assessment and Community Health Improvement Planning activities.”

A two-time Governor’s Sterling Award recipient (2009, 2015), the DOH-St. Johns County Health Department was one of the first organizations in Florida and the first County Health Department to be awarded the Sustained Performance Excellence Award in 2011.  During April of 2017, the Florida Sterling Council’s panel of judges met and confirmed that DOH-St. Johns County Health Department remains a role model organization, continuing to sustain organizational performance excellence  in the seven Baldrige-based categories of the Sterling Criteria which include:  Leadership;  Strategic Planning;  Customer Focus;  Measurement, Analysis and Knowledge Management;  Workforce Focus;  Operations Focus; and Results.

The Florida Department of Health in St. Johns County is part of the integrated State Department of Health. With 66 full time employees and approximately $5 million annual budget, DOH-St. Johns serves as the Local Chief Health Strategist for the community, and provides critical public health services to the County’s 235,000+ residents and almost 7 million annual visitors.  These services include: Population Health – Population-based Disease Prevention, Epidemiology, Environmental Health Services, Emergency Preparedness and Community Resilience, Vaccine Preventable Disease Prevention / Immunizations, Health Protection, and Health Promotion Services; Clinical Services of Public Health Significance – Oral Pediatric Health Care, Communicable Disease Management and Treatment, HIV/AIDS Medical Management and Treatment, Family Planning Services, Healthy Start, WIC, Vital Statistics and Community Health Improvement Planning for linkages to and assurance of access to community health services and health equity for all. Services are primarily provided in a state-of-the-art, purpose-built public health green energy efficient LEEDS compliant building – the St. Johns County Health and Human Services Center located at 200 San Sebastian View, St. Augustine, FL 32084. In 2017, for the sixth consecutive year, St. Johns County was ranked #1 of 67 counties in the state in both Health Outcomes and Health Factors by the University of Wisconsin and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s, County Health Rankings Report. Other significant outcomes include: customer satisfaction rates consistently higher than 98%; employee satisfaction rates greater than 91%; and consistently top ratings for surveillance of and timely response to potential local public health threats including disaster response and recovery.

About the Florida Department of Health - Florida Department of Health works to protect, promote, and improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county and community efforts.  In March 2017, the Florida Department of Health celebrated a one year milestone as the first integrated department of health in the nation to achieve national accreditation through the national Public Health Accreditation Board. Public health departments play a critical role in protecting and improving the health of people and communities. The seal of accreditation signifies that the Florida Department of Health has been rigorously examined and meets or exceeds national standards that promote continuous quality improvement for public health.

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