Day in the life of... 

Kara Vogelson,

Assistant Deputy Director of Administrative Operations 

Sometimes you may work for an organization and not exactly know everything in regards to how it operates or what roles your coworkers play. This is not the case for Kara Vogelson, Assistant Deputy Director of Administrative Operations and Organizational Development and Research Manager. Since her employment started at the Health Department, Vogelson has played several intricate department roles.

Vogelson started her professional career at the University of Northern Iowa and majored in English. In 2002, she was hired by the department as a part-time private well tester. Six months later, Vogelson became a full-time Environmental Health Specialist. "I did everything from inspect restaurants and transient non-community water supplies to investigating nuisance calls," Vogelson stated. "I enjoyed this job because I was able to interact with members of the community and meet new people." In 2003, Vogelson accepted the Healthy Homes Coordinator position and developed the first program like it in the state. "It was challenging to design a program that focused on all aspects of keeping a home healthy, not just childhood lead poisoning prevention," she noted. "I loved creating this program because I was able to understand the needs in our county and help people daily."

In 2008, Vogelson took on a much different role in the organization than her previous ones. Her new role in health planning consisted of developing new funding opportunities through grant writing and collecting information to further investigate needs of the community. Finally, in 2010, Vogelson landed in her current role as Manager of the Organizational Development and Research section. In this position, Vogelson is responsible for data collection and analysis, which helps the Health Department understand problems in the community that we can address and fix. "The current problems facing our community shape the strategic direction the Health Department takes over the next three years. The health needs develop into future grant ideas to build a healthier community for all members of Cerro Gordo County," said Vogelson. As Organizational Development and Research Manager, Vogelson also works with service section managers and grant coordinators to make sure they are meeting the goals and objectives of their grant. Tracking grants is an important piece of receiving future grant awards and being good stewards of funding. One of Vogelson's unique roles in her position is to help the employees of the Health Department better understand their strengths as individuals and how to contribute in their current roles. Vogelson also serves as the backup Public Information Officer. During this time, Vogelson has been working on earning her Master of Health Care Administration Degree from Des Moines University.

As an employee of the Health Department, Vogelson believes her position provides a bird's eye view of public health problems in the community. From this level of knowledge, Vogelson feels the Health Department, along with their community partners, is able to improve the health status of our community. This position comes along with challenges. "In my world, I need to prioritize projects," she stated. "This is especially true of grant applications, which are all based on deadlines." As an employee at the Health Department for over 10 years, Vogelson feels each citizen in the county benefits from public health because the Health Department provides services for everyone. "People can look to public health to immunize their family, determine if their water is safe to drink or receive access to mammograms if they are underinsured or uninsured," says Vogelson. However, even with these benefits, there are challenges in the field of public health. Vogelson believes it is difficult to meet all the needs of our community especially due to financial strains of our economy. Even with this challenge, Vogelson maintains the belief that public health will be leading the charge on prevention. "Preventing chronic health conditions, disease, illness and injury along with educating people to make better health choices are large public health initiatives." Vogelson believes.

Vogelson's experience and knowledge of the realm of public helps aids the Cerro Gordo County Department of Public Health in their journey to be the healthiest county in Iowa!