The Public Health
STORY BY PAM BURKE Photo by COLIN THOMPSON
The question of what is public health is not one Hill County Health Department Director Kim Larson considered much when she was getting her bachelor’s degree in health promotion, but as it turns out her job in public health is not far removed from the goals she had envisioned achieving after graduation. “I started out in nursing school, but I just want to be more in prevention and not treatment,” Larson said. “Originally, I got my health promotion degree to work in cardio-pulmonary rehab and work with people to prevent heart disease or to come back and be healthier after they’ve had a heart attack,” she added. “And that was a personal thing for me because my dad had a heart attack when he was very young, when I was a seventh grader, and that just kind of – I would like to help people not have to deal with that.” Larson, who grew up in Kremlin, said she moved to back to this area after graduating from Montana State University Bozemen. She wanted to find something more in her degree field so started with the health department working on a community needs assessment about 10 years ago. She stayed with the department after that and five years later was promoted to director and adviser to the the county health board. In midSeptember, Larson also accepted the role of health officer for the county, to be effective Oct. 1. So, in a fortunate twist of fate, one of the primary functions of her job is prevention of diseases and other health problems. Certified in public health management and nationally certified in public health through the National Board of
HILL COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT Kim Larson, director of the Hill County Health Department, stands outside the offices of the Hill County Health Department. October 2020 | LIVING Havre and the Hi-Line MAGAZINE |
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