The Great Lakes Border Health Initiative (GLBHI) was originally undertaken as the Michigan-Ontario Border Health Initiative in early 2004. The program expanded in the fall of 2004 to include Minnesota, New York and Wisconsin in the mission of formalizing relationships between U.S. and Canadian public health and emergency preparedness agencies responsible for infectious disease tracking, control and response. In 2008, the states of Ohio, Pennsylvania and Indiana also joined GLBHI.
The Great Lakes Border Health Initiative has identified key stakeholders, and together, these partners are committed to converting challenges into opportunities in this groundbreaking effort to strengthen international public health collaboration.
A contact directory for NON-EMERGENCY purposes is now available. It lists many of our partners and key contacts in the GLBHI jurisdictions.
Current state and provincial leads for the program are:
Indiana
Pam Pontones, MA
Director, Surveillance and Investigation
Public Health Preparedness and Emergency Response
Indiana State Department of Health
2 North Meridian Street, 5-K
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Michigan
Diane M. Krueger, PhD
EWIDS Project Coordinator
Michigan Department of Community Health
201 Townsend, 5th Floor
PO Box 30195
Lansing, MI 48913
Minnesota
Amy Westbrook, MPH
District Epidemiologist
Minnesota Department of Health, Northeast District
Government Services Center, Room 703
320 W Second Street
Duluth, MN 55802
New York
Richard Buck
Border Health Manager/Tribal Liaison
Office of Health Emergency Preparedness
New York State Department of Health
Riverview Center
150 Broadway,Suite 354 West
Menands, NY 12204
Ohio
Kimberly D. Machesky, MPH
Epidemiology Investigator
Ohio Department of Health
Infectious Disease Surveillance
246 North High Street
Columbus, OH 43215
Ontario
Phil Graham
Manager, Public Health Emergency Preparedness
Emergency Management Unit
Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care
415 Yonge Street, Suite 801
Toronto, Ontario M5B 2E7
CANADA
Justine Hartley
Senior Policy and Program Consultant
Emergency Management Branch
Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care
415 Yonge Street, Suite 801
Toronto, Ontario M5B 2E7
CANADA
Phone: 416-212-3139
Fax: 416-212-4466
Email: justine.hartley@ontario.ca
Pennsylvania
Veronica Urdaneta, MD, MPH
State Epidemiologist and Director
Division of Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Pennsylvania Department of Health
Health and Welfare Building, Room 933
7th and Forster Streets
Harrisburg, PA 17108
Wisconsin
Amy Karon, DVM, MPH
Surveillance Epidemiologist
Bureau of Communicable Disease
Wisconsin Division of Public Health
1 W Wilson Rm 318
PO Box 2659 Madison, WI 53701