I was fortunate to have been employed as a registered nurse at the health department for about 10 years until moving out of town in the mid-1990s. During that time, employees and administration worked together as a team to do whatever was needed to improve the health of the community. The staff felt valued, and our input and opinions were always considered in the decision-making process. Programs – such as education and testing for HTLV-III infection, now called HIV, in which I was involved, as well as low-cost, family-planning services – were initiated based on need even before outside funding was available. Keeping administrative staff at a minimum, as well as continuous frugality, allowed us to use meager local- and state-based funding to do what needed to be done.

After years of keeping up with changes in the department, I had always been proud to have been a part of such a successful organization.

Then, a few years ago, everything changed.

Unlike the successful business model of team management, care and respect for all employees in addition to emphasis on customer service, the department became increasingly heavy with administration and a top-down bureaucracy where employees were not valued, consulted or even allowed to voice their opinions – for fear of retribution.

A staff-turnover rate that had been among the lowest in the state for decades has now skyrocketed. Morale, of course, is impressively low.

The once-valued employer that was San Juan Basin Health Department – the agency that embraced the public health in America mission to “Promote Physical and Mental Health and Prevent Disease, Injury and Disability” for everyone in our community – appears to be gone. The devoted staff of San Juan Basin Health Department and the community deserve better than this.

Deborah DeLuca

Tucson