Local Public Health Leaders Participate in Competitive National Financial Administration and Management Cohort

By Shelley Argabrite, Director of Population Health, Innovation & Informatics Unit

Local public health leaders are participating in an exclusive National Resource Management cohort called Building Expertise in Administration & Management (BEAM) certificate program. Created to enhance the business skills of those working in governmental public health, BEAM is a collaboration between the University of Miami and the De Beaumont Foundation. 

“Financial competence drives programmatic sustainability and organizational financial health, and ultimately impacts the cost-effectiveness of our public health interventions,” said Dr. Roderick K. King, MD, MPH, Assistant Dean of Public Health Education, Director of the MD/MPH, Associate Professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences and the Department of Pediatrics in the Miller School of Medicine as he welcomed the 2024 cohort.

Under the leadership of Shelley Argabrite, MA, Director of Population Health, Innovation, and Informatics Unit, our local high-performing four-person team has made significant strides. They were chosen because of their exemplary application to the National Network of Public Health Institutes, a testament to their expertise and dedication. The team includes Argabrite, John Corbin, Communications, Data Science, and Informatics Administrator, and Jennifer Hare, Financial Administrator from the Garrett County Health Department, and Fred Polce, Jr., MS, Director of the Garrett County Behavioral Health Authority and Local Management Board. They are committed to establishing interventions that address drivers of health outcomes through data-led design, continuous quality improvement, and engagement of community members.  

After completing 20 hours of coursework, utilizing a community of practice cohort, receiving professional coaching, and developing an extensive resource management approach at the Garrett County Health Department, the team is poised to integrate performance and financial management.

Currently, units across the health department utilize the performance management system to track over 1000+ public hyperlocal data points as part of the open-source and nationally recognized model practice, the Garrett County Planning Tool (found at mygarrettcounty.com), designed and built by Argabrite and Corbin. Phase one of the BEAM project enhances a system component intended to capture fiscal details of initiatives to utilize funding better and optimize efforts to improve population health outcomes in rural Appalachia.

The team will attend the National Public Health Improvement Training Conference in New Orleans later this month to present its resource management approach. Along with the five other elite teams from across the country, they will showcase their project and enhanced business skills in public health practice.

Cutline: Pictured from left to right: Fred Polce, Director of the Garrett County Local Management Board and Local Behavioral Health Authority, Jennifer Hare, Administrator at the Garrett County Health Department, Shelley Argabrite, Director of Population Health, Innovation, & Informatics, County Health Strategist, & Accreditation Coordinator at the Garrett County Health Department, and John Corbin, Communications, Data Science, and Informatics Administrator at the Garrett County Health Department.