Westchester Honors Contributions To Public Health

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY — Westchester County honored contributions to public health during its 2023 Public Health Awards presentation.

Recipients included three adults, two organizations and one student.

“Today, we honor the contributions of a robust network of volunteers and community partners who help improve the health of our county,” said County Executive George Latimer.

“These awards highlight the important role that public health plays to preserve the health of Westchester residents,” he said. “With their extraordinary concern for others, these volunteers set an example for all of us.”

Board of Health President Robert Baker, MD, presented the 2023 Dr. Harold Keltz Distinguished Public Health Service Award to Beverley Chang, PA-C, MPH, a physician assistant from Peekskill. As health committee chair for the Peekskill branch of the NAACP, Chang led efforts to educate and inform Peekskill residents about COVID-19, along with other ways to stay healthy, the importance of vaccination and other prevention strategies.

The Board awarded the 2023 J.R. Tesone Youth Public Health Service Awards to Jason Starr, a Briarcliff High School senior who channeled his concern for his grandmother during the pandemic into a public health research project. Using disease modeling and computer coding, Starr created a website where communities could gauge the impact of interventions on the spread of COVID-19. He also founded a nonprofit tutoring network to help school districts establish and expand volunteer tutoring by and for their students. The network has chapters in 27 school districts.

County Health Commissioner Dr. Sherlita Amler presented the Commissioner’s Award to Michael Palumbo, MD, executive vice president and chief medical officer at White Plains Hospital. “I am grateful to Dr. Palumbo for his advice and support for me, for the Department and for the people who live and work in Westchester,” Amber said.

The Health Department presented two Special Recognition Awards to agencies that partnered with the Department by hosting clinics, and helping to get the word about to residents who could benefit. The Yonkers Riverfront Library was recognized for creating a safe space for COVID-19 clinics, hosting 17 in 2021 and 2022. The LOFT LGBTQ+ Community Center was selected for helping the department rapidly respond to the Mpox outbreak, by hosting five clinics over a nine-week period.