Health Department director brings real-world examples, teachiings to USU
Prevention rather than treatment is the key to good physical health.
This philosophy is what guided Bear River Health Department director Dr. John Bailey to go the route of public health after finishing medical school.
Bailey said he came to Logan in 1974 to direct the department when it was located in cramped quarters with other governmental offices at 160 N. Main St. After outgrowing the facility, the department moved next door to 170 N. Main St. With continued growth, the department outgrew that location as well.
“I didn’t have any intention of staying [in Cache Valley],” Bailey said. “I came to finish my public health training. We built this program from the ground up.”
Now located in a modern-looking white-walled building, the health department and its director seek to prevent the spread of communicable diseases before they start.
Bailey’s first attraction to the health profession started while he was a boy growing up in Salt Lake City. Seeing the flashing red lights of ambulances in his neighborhood, Bailey wanted to be where the action was.
“I had the mistaken notion medicine was ambulances,” Bailey said.
Bailey specialized in preventative medicine after graduating from the University of Utah’s undergraduate and medical programs.
For the last 15 years, he has been teaching at Utah State University. He first became allied with USU by teaching a course on communicable disease control. He said the focus on the course is an in-depth look at interrupting the chain of disease transmission.
“Most diseases have a public health component,” Bailey said. “Tuberculosis, hepatitis, sexually transmitted diseases and influenza all affect the population as a whole.”
He said the first task when dealing with a disease is to identify what segment of the population is at risk. The flu season recently passed, but during the winter months traditionally people ages 65 and older were the most at-risk. Now, however, that age has dropped to ages 50 and older.
Bailey said from a public health standpoint, he was more worried about a disease outbreak more than bioterrorism.
“It was more likely there would be mass food poisoning outbreak,” he said. “It’s a credit to the planning and prevention we didn’t see it to a great extent.”
During spring semester, Bailey teaches community health, a soup-to-nuts survey course dealing with basically anything causing illness or death including smoking, cancer, infectious diseases and health habits.
“I enjoy the interaction with the students,” Bailey said. “It keeps me sharp and up-to-date [on health issues].”
He said he is certain he gets more out of teaching and preparing to teach than any of his students do, although the students appreciate the real-world examples he employs in teaching which aren’t simply theoretical presentations.
Bailey said some of the staff of the health department are former USU students who had participated in intern and externships and were hired on full time.
“There are a lot of prospective health professionals,” Bailey said. “I enjoy those who are contemplating entering health professions.”
Students pursuing nursing, health education, public health, pre-medicine and nutrition have all benefited from participation in internships with the department.
“We try to provide a lab for students to have practical experience,” he said.
Bailey’s work doesn’t always keep him inside of Utah.
In 1991 Bailey was called with the Army reserves during Operation Desert Storm to go to Germany where he spent four months preparing active-duty troops who were going to the Middle East. The day after he returned from Germany, the next quarter started and it was back to the classroom.
Bailey said the health department provides a variety of services including travel planning and advice. The staff will look over travel itineraries and help travelers procure the correct immunizations for their destinations.
“Good health is so much more than medical care,” he said. “A large component is preventive.”
Through Saturday is the health department’s public health week.
Tuesday is the health department’s report to the Logan City Council, located at City Hall, 255 N. Main St. Meetings start at 6:15 p.m.
People will have a chance to sign up for free smoke detectors at the SAFE KIDS booth at the Cache Valley Mall.