New director takes over
AUSTINTOWN
Patricia McGovern Sweeney, a lifelong Mahoning County resident, found her “dream job” figuratively in her backyard as the new health commissioner of the Mahoning County District Board of Health.
Sweeney, deputy health commissioner until long-time commissioner Matthew Stefanak retires April 30, has been here learning the job for about a month.
A registered nurse, Sweeney said her passion for public health began in the 1990s when she worked on the local Healthy Valley 2000, spearheaded by the county health department and local hospitals to develop a community health plan. She was vice chairman of the Health Valley Commission and chairman of its Violent Deaths subcommittee.
For the last 12 years, Sweeney has been on the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh as associate director for Law and Policy at its Center for Public Health Practice in the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. In this role she works extensively with local, state and national organizations to enhance the role of law in public health practice.
She is also an assistant professor in UP’s Graduate School of Public Health where she teaches health and public health law and ethics courses and serves as the director of its dual degree program.
Sweeney also is the principal investigator for a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded study that is analyzing the role of law and policy on health care personnel influenza immunization rates and done in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control Public Health Law Program and the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.
These leadership positions and others have brought her into contact with public health programs around the nation.
“I found out just how progressive the Mahoning County District Board of Health is,” she said.
For instance, she said, it is one of the first public health departments in the country to voluntarily seek Public Health Accreditation from the National Public Health Accreditation Board. Also the county health department is participating in the Practice Based Research Network Project of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which she calls “very progressive.” “The whole point is to use research to improve public health practices,” Sweeney said.
Also, she said the county health department has taken quality improvement measures, such as analyzing business practices and displaying a high level of professionalism and commitment to improving public health.
Sweeney described her first month on the job as a “fantastic learning” experience.”
“My experience is in infectious diseases and chronic illness. Now I’m learning about environmental health issues, such as septic systems, well water and landfills,” she said.
Sweeney said she brings a national perspective and focus to the position, knowledge of how other public health departments operate, and grant-writing expertise.
She said everybody is doing more with less, and she has seen in her first month here evidence that the department has developed partnerships to get things done that would be difficult to do individually.
Sweeney lives in Poland with her husband, Douglas. They have three daughters, Alexa Sweeney Blackann of Boardman, Andrea Sweeney Wagner of Hilliard, and Carolyn Sweeney of Boston, Mass., and two grandchildren.
Locally, the Boardman High School graduate is a member of the Mahoning County High School Board of Education and a trustee of the William Swanston Charitable Fund and the William Swanston Children’s Home.