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Altman receives award for work in public health
YOUNGSTOWN
Youngstown City Health District Commissioner Neil H. Altman was named 2010 Champion of Public Health in the Public Health Practitioner category.
“Neil really has a passion for what he does. He loves Youngstown and is very concerned and wants to see the citizens of Youngstown cared for, no matter what their status in life. He could have gone anywhere, but he chose to stay in Youngstown,” said Lana Cherrington, environmental health director for the Ross County Health District.
Cherrington nominated Altman for the annual award presented in October by the Ohio State University College of Public Health to recognize the impact that individuals and groups have made on the health of Ohioans.
She said Altman, who is well known for his efforts in strategic planning, helped Ross County Health District with its strategic planning and helped her with the district’s environmental health program.
Altman, 63, received a bachelor or arts degree from Temple University in 1972 and a master’s degree in public health from the University of North Carolina in 1977. He and his wife, Denise Sandra Wilderman, have a son, Max.
Brian Corbin said that during the several years that he served as president of the Youngstown Board of Health, Altman led the board and the community in responding to many public-health issues, from HIV/AIDS to the homeless.
“One area that needs to be highlighted regarding Neil’s leadership for our city is that through his persistence, many community and institutional leaders were brought together to think through and find best ways to respond to reduce lead levels in housing. Today, many more units of housing are safer for children,” said Corbin, who is executive director of the Department of Catholic Charities for the Youngstown Diocese Catholic Charities Regional Agency.
“Neil, who did a lot of the initial work on AIDS prevention and testing here, also very early on supported community efforts to tackle the child lead-poisoning issue in Youngstown,” said Matthew Stefanak, commissioner of Mahoning County District Board of Health.
In the 1980s, lead poisoning was a huge problem with many children being diagnosed annually. Altman was a strong advocate of holding property owners accountable for abatement of lead hazards, Stefanak said.
In her nomination of Altman, Cherrington said that during the 30 years he has served as Youngstown health commissioner, he led dozens of committees to address the public-health needs of his community. His most-recent project was spearheading the creation of a new departmental strategic plan, which emphasizes the significance of public health in the community, she said.
Altman directs a number of projects that impact the health of Ohioans, including the Youngstown Health Department’s Arthritis Program, the Infant Immunization Action Plan Grant Program, the Hepatitis Immunization Grant Program and the AIDS Prevention Grant Program and is president of the Mahoning County Area Task Force on AIDS.
“You can’t be a champion without a cause and without people who believe in something. I couldn’t do anything without my staff,” Altman said.