The gist
Fort Bend County Commissioners Court unanimously approved a memorandum of understanding between FBCHHS and UTHealth Houston School of Public Health at the Dec. 5 meeting. The agreement is effective for one year, according to the agenda document.
The details
At the Dec. 5 meeting, FBCHHS Director Dr. Letosha Gale-Lowe said the partnership makes HHS an academic public health department. An academic public health department aims to enhance public health education and training, research, and service to the community, according to the agreement document.
Gale-Lowe said in a Dec. 7 email that the no-cost partnership is mutually beneficial, as it will provide education opportunities for UT students, create an employment pipeline for graduates and offer professional development for FBCHHS staff.
“So this ... really lays a great foundation to move into the education and training not only of our staff but actually also begin to move and train community members to sort of take some things on for themselves as far as learning about chronic disease and other health aspects,” she said at the meeting.
In their own words
Precinct 4 Commissioner Dexter McCoy said he’s “extremely happy” about the partnership.
“I’m glad to see that our department is moving in this direction to help equip residents in our community with information that they need to not just respond to pandemics and other diseases but to take care of their health and watch their own personal metrics, going to see the doctor [and] why that’s important,” he said at the meeting. “And I know that’s particularly important in communities of color [and] some of our low socioeconomic communities.”
What’s next
Now that the agreement is signed, Gale-Lowe said in an email that the entities will set up a coordinating committee made up of one person from UT and one from FBCHHS who will oversee the agreement’s implementation.
