A longtime collaboration between UW-Eau Claire and the Eau Claire City-County Health Department (ECCCHD) was formalized earlier this year. The milestone has prompted university and health department staff to look to students and the community for input on how to move forward with the partnership.

The collaboration is formally described as an Academic Health Department (AHD) partnership and is the fourth of its kind in the state of Wisconsin.

According to the Public Health Foundation, AHD partnerships help to “strengthen the links between public health practice and academia and to lessen the separation between the education of public health professionals and the practice of public health.”

Doug Dunham is interim director of Strategic Partnerships and Program Development and director of the Materials Science and Engineering Center at UW-Eau Claire. In his role, Dunham said he served as a “link” in the process of formalizing the partnership.

“The university’s been working with the Eau Claire City-County Health Department for a really long time,” Dunham said. “Now, we’re trying to formalize it and also build on it — there’ve been lots of collaborations, but I think there are opportunities for more.”

Dunham said in an effort to understand what students, faculty and the community want to see from this partnership, the university will host an event from 2-4 p.m. on Dec. 12 in the Council Oak Room of Davies Student Center with representatives from ECCCHD and UW-Eau Claire. He said the event is open to students who want to share input about how this collaboration could grow.

Marisa Stanley, assistant director at ECCCHD, said the collaborations between the department and UW-Eau Claire have mainly consisted of research and joint public health projects as well as student life and wellness projects.

“Here at the department, we’ve hosted students for internships or learning opportunities,” Stanley said. “We’ve also provided lectures for classes and we’ve partnered on various projects and research in the past.”

Stanley said ECCCHD has worked closely with the university on improving health for the campus community. Particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, Stanley said the department assisted in putting quarantine and isolation measures in place for classrooms and students living on upper campus.

Additionally, according to Stanley, the department has worked with students, faculty and staff to educate campus about issues like harm reduction and sexual health. In addition to working with students, ECCCHD has worked with leadership to prepare for various communicable diseases and is working with Student Health Services to make Narcan treatment accessible on campus.

“We have a really close relationship with the environmental public health program,” Stanley said. “We host quite a few students in the nursing program, and we’re also really involved in the new master of public health program.”

According to Stanley, ECCCHD is looking forward to solidifying the department and university’s commitment to working together.

Dunham said he looks forward to hearing from students and faculty about their vision for this partnership.

“I think any time we, as a university, can connect with the community, it benefits the students,” Dunham said. “It not only makes them feel more at home, but it also gives them more professional development opportunities for their education.”

Wojahn can be reached at [email protected].