As a State Senator and Chair of the Health and Human Services Committee, I introduced literally hundreds of bills to provide funding to support public health and raise the standards of what we as citizens should expect from our public health institutions. The Healthy Homes program in Lancaster County started in 1991 and currently receives over 200 presumptive eligibility referrals. All of the 200 referrals are pregnant minority women. In addition, the public health nursing division averages around 1,000 pregnant women contacts through presumptive eligibility each year. In 1991, I passed the Childhood Vaccine Act.
Vaccination is the key to better health for children.
Adequate immunization protects children against several diseases that killed or disabled many children in past decades. The Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department is instrumental in providing immunizations to children in our community. During the last fiscal year our public health nursing staff gave 24,701 childhood immunizations in our community. During my last session in the Legislature, I sponsored LB 1070, that created the Excellence in Health Care Trust Fund. This legislation set aside the tobacco settlement and other state dollars to be used for public health purposes.