Serving
as the director of public health in Connecticut’s fifth largest
city, Roseann Wright '00, R.N., R.S., B.S.N., M.P.H. has a job that would
challenge even the most time-tested administrator. However, her
UConn education and diverse background have prepared her well for
the role in Waterbury, which she assumed in May 2008.
Since that time, and in the four years prior when she was the
assistant director, she’s played a leadership role in guiding the
organization through major restructuring, a challenge with 130
employees and a budget greater than $5.5 million. She’s
well-attuned to the challenges of a large urban health department.
The organization has dramatically changed, Wright says, and has a
new, expanded role protecting the health of the Brass City’s
citizens.
“We’re taking huge steps in addressing environmental health today,”
she says. “There are just under 800 restaurants in Waterbury that
need to be inspected on a regular basis. We’ve investigated
nuisances at over 6,000 properties and sent out 2,000 notices of
violation to property owners for housing complaints and blight
enforcement. We’re physically going out there and being visible. We
view this as an important part of our mission.”
That mission also includes several public health initiatives funded
through 19 state and federal grants, including minority AIDS care,
the women, infant, and children (WIC) program, and running public health
programs in a geographic region stretching from Seymour to
Litchfield County. Wright also launched a new $3-million grant from
the Department of Housing and Urban Development to make 223 units of
public housing in Waterbury lead-free.
Her team’s next priority, she says, is to ensure the safety of the
city’s salons and barber shops through a recently passed city
ordinance. Similar ordinances are planned in the future for nail
salons as well as massage and tattoo parlors.
Wright began her health care career as a registered nurse, working
as a school nurse for the Bristol/Burlington Health District. In
2003, she accepted a position in Waterbury at the Department of
Public Health as the director of nursing.
Wright says, “this was a
smooth transition since the department in Waterbury employs the 39
school nurses throughout the city. My past experience in school
nursing allowed me to relate and fully understand what the school
nurses in Waterbury experience every day.”
In 2003, the department was in a state of flux with no
director, Wright says, and was transitioning from being run by a
third-party transition team. The department had to be restructured
and rebuilt, but, Wright believes, they now have a very strong
public health foundation, and more than six years of growth.
"The staff of the health department has made all of this
possible," Wright says. "They are all committed to their jobs, the
department and the city."
She says her UConn education helped her understand the breadth of
public health issues that she deals with every day.
“It’s funny, but when I look back at my experience at UConn, it
wasn’t each class that made a difference, but rather the combination
of them all together. You had a chance to talk to other students,
and learn from their experiences. Many of us have stayed in touch
over the years. I think my education got me to the next stage of
professional growth.”
Serving
as the director of public health in Connecticut’s fifth largest
city, Roseann Wright '00, R.N., R.S., B.S.N., M.P.H. has a job that would
challenge even the most time-tested administrator. However, her
UConn education and diverse background have prepared her well for
the role in Waterbury, which she assumed in May 2008.