Purpose

Our purpose is to ensure that everyone in our community has the opportunity to be as healthy as they can be. We work with our community partners and the public itself to create a living environment where healthy options are accessible to everyone.

Vision

Our vision is that Marion is a healthy place to live, work, and play.

Mission

Our mission is to create a culture of health by providing all people with the opportunity to reach their greatest health potential at every stage of life.

We are organized into three divisions, Environmental Health, Public Health Nursing, and Maternal and Child Health. A fourth unit of Marion Public Health is the Office of Policy and Planning. This office is responsible for much of our system-wide work, including policy, system, and environmental change as implemented in our Creating Healthy Communities program. That office also houses our critical administrative support team.

Our work here is informed by our 2015 Community Health Assessment (CHA). This report includes data from a community health status and risk factor survey. It was the product of the hard work of a large number of community stakeholders who helped to identify resources as well as prioritize health needs. The report identified the following five priorities: Substance Abuse, Obesity (healthy eating and active living), Tobacco Use, Maternal & Child Health, and Healthy Housing.

The 2016-2020 Marion Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) report looks at each of the five priority areas identified in the CHA and identifies specific goals, objectives, and strategies the community will engage in to address them. This is a community plan and its successful implementation depends on the community’s engagement.

Unlike the Community Health Improvement Plan, the guiding document for Marion Public Health is our 2016-2020 Strategic Plan. This takes the CHIP into consideration regarding our role as one of the system stakeholders but it also focuses on foundational public health services that go well beyond the community plan.