Ulster County Launches Program to Recognize Community Health Contributors

The Ulster County Department of Health is asking residents to help recognize “Public Health Champions” — individuals, businesses and organizations making everyday contributions to community health.

The new recognition program is part of the department’s broader “We Are Public Health” campaign, which Ulster County Public Health Director Dr. Eve Walter said is meant to highlight both the work of the agency and the shared role residents play in public health.

“The We Are Public Health has two messages in one,” Walter said, explaining that one focus is the services provided by the health department and the other is community-wide responsibility. “The second part of the we, our public health, is we, everybody.”

Walter said the idea for the program came out of efforts to make public health more visible across the county, including a partnership with artist Ryan Cronin.

The program is intended to recognize a wide range of contributions, from informal caregiving to community cleanups and health education efforts.

“It could be a neighbor who often drives someone who can’t drive anymore to their health care visits or to get groceries,” Walter said. “It could be a teenager who brings in condoms to the high school to promote safer sex. It could be a business that arranges to do trail cleanup.”

Walter said even small actions can have a broader impact on community health.

“They might feel small, but they really aren’t,” she said. “It takes a village as they say.”

Nominations are open through the end of July.

Image: The announcement of the “We Are Public Health” collaboration between the Ulster County Department of Health and Artist Ryan Cronin (center) at the The Cronin Gallery + The Shop in New Paltz July 25, 2025. (Ulster County Government)