As new Allegheny County Health Department Director Karen Hacker comes into office, she faces a range of public health concerns. From smoking, obesity and air quality to green infrastructure and fracking issues, Dr. Hacker will be tackling a number of community health matters.
Many worry whether the department has the resources it needs to enforce all the state and county regulations under its purview, but Dr. Hacker says she has already received unique support from the public and from advocacy groups.
“One of the things I’ve been most impressed about thus far is that people are really supporting my making changes in the health department and at this point in time, nationally, a lot of health departments are really suffering. So to really have the opportunity to really see if we can make this place a new and invigorated health department is pretty exciting.”
