Sauk County Earns Silver Wisconsin Healthy Communities Designation

October 5, 2018

Tara Hayes, MSN, RN
Health Officer/ Health Director
(608) 355-3290

Sauk County earns silver Wisconsin Healthy Communities Designation
31 Communities in Wisconsin receive designations

Sauk County has been recognized for its work to improve local health by receiving a Wisconsin Healthy Communities Designation.

This new program is intended to recognize and encourage achievements in health improvement in Wisconsin communities, and to promote cooperation across multiple sectors.

The Sauk County Health & Wellness Coalition, whose partners include Reedsburg Area Medical Center, Sauk County Health Department, Sauk Prairie Healthcare and SSM Health St. Clare Hospital, was approached to apply for this program as the Sauk County representation and was proud to receive the silver designation.

The designation recognizes Sauk County and the silver level for its continued efforts in making the County a healthy place to live, learn, work and play. “Our coalition has been working collaboratively for the past six years on health initiatives for the entire county,” stated Tara Hayes, Director of the Sauk County Health Dept. “This designation validates our work and will help guide us as our coalition continues to develop and initiate health and wellness programs to benefit all of Sauk County well into the future.”

The Healthy Communities Designation program is designed to be accessible to communities of all shapes and sizes, both rural and urban. The definition of communities is broad and can include counties, municipalities, neighborhoods and other self-defined, place-based communities in Wisconsin. The program uses a three-tiered approach- gold, silver and bronze – which are meant to provide a trajectory and serve as a guide for communities as they continue to strive toward better health.

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The Wisconsin Healthy Communities Designation is a new initiative offered by the Mobilizing Action Toward Community Health (MATCH) group of the UW Population Health Institute (UWPHI), in collaboration with diverse statewide groups. The Healthy Communities Designation program, funded by the Wisconsin Partnership Program of the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, is designed to recognize and encourage achievements in health improvement in Wisconsin. To learn more about the program, visit the program website:
www.wihealthycommunities.org