Nassau County, NY - August 5th, 2013 - Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano today announced and congratulated the Department of Health on being selected as a host site for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) 2013 Public Health Associate Program (PHAP). The Department of Health successfully applied for, and was awarded four Public Health Associates out of the 150 awarded nationally. PHAP is a competitive, two year paid fellowship within the CDC, which allows recently graduated public health professionals to gain broad experience in the day-to-day operation of public health programs. Nassau County Department of Health has been awarded this prestigious opportunity three times in the four year history of the program, and has been invited to host 6 associates in total.

“The Department of Health was awarded four public health associates from a large competitive field nationwide” said County Executive Mangano. “Nassau County will again benefit from associates who have attained academic success and now seek to further develop their public health training through placement at the Department of Health. I am proud of the Department of Health’s accomplishment.”

“With almost 4,000 local health departments nationwide, I am honored again that Nassau County was chosen by the CDC to be a host agency,” said Dr. Lawrence Eisenstein, Commissioner of Health. “The associate program provides the Department of Health with promising leaders who assist in our mission of protecting and promoting the health of the residents of Nassau County.”

PHAP’s mission is to establish a pipeline of entry-level, frontline public health professionals who, through training and field experience, are capable of meeting public health workforce needs at the federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial levels. During this 2-year program the associates will work on projects aimed at the prevention of childhood lead poisoning, public health emergency preparedness, minority health, tuberculosis control, communicable disease control, environmental protection and injury prevention. Upon completion of delivering frontline program services for the Nassau County Department of Health, these associates will be qualified to compete for entry-level career positions as a CDC public health advisor and equivalent positions in public health operations at the local and state levels throughout the United States.