“We are honored to work with NACCHO in recognizing programs from local heroes who, in the face of adversity and unprecedented strain upon their resources, created new and better ways to serve,” said Justin Beck, Chief Visionary Officer and founder of Contakt World.

— Award recognizes best practices in response to the COVID-19 pandemic —

Washington, DC, May 27, 2021 — Today, the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), the voice of the country’s nearly 3,000 local governmental health departments, named its 2021 Innovative Practice Award Winners. The award is a recognition of programs developed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrating effective community partnerships and collaboration, adaptability and program resilience, and remarkable innovation. Thirty-three outstanding local health department programs received this recognition, with eight Gold Awardees, five Silver Awardees, and twenty Bronze Awardees. An additional 15 programs received Honorable Mentions.

“Local health departments have demonstrated remarkable innovation and resilience to better the health of their communities during the pandemic, and the 2021 Innovative Practice Awards highlight the very best practices,” said NACCHO’s Chief Executive Officer Lori Tremmel Freeman. “Winners excelled at various disciplines including promoting health equity, contact tracing, mobile testing, contactless medication delivery, and many more. We also thank Contakt World for their commitment to recognizing innovation in local public health. NACCHO is very proud to join them in honoring the outstanding work done by local health departments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“We are honored to work with NACCHO in recognizing programs from local heroes who, in the face of adversity and unprecedented strain upon their resources, created new and better ways to serve,” said Justin Beck, Chief Visionary Officer and founder of Contakt World. “This inaugural award represents everything we stand for at Contakt World. We believe that sustainable public health and achievement of true health equity requires courage, innovation, and resolve.”

Gold, Silver, and Bronze Innovative Practice Awardees will receive complimentary registration and support to attend the 2021 NACCHO 360 Virtual Conference from June 29 – July 1, 2021. Awardees will be recognized during a Virtual Awards Reception on Wednesday, June 30 at 5 PM ET.

Winning agencies also will receive an in-kind contribution award from NACCHO’s Diamond Affiliate Member, Contakt World, ranging from $2,000 - $7,000. Contakt World is a technology and public health communications company that works with public health agencies, employer establishments, healthcare providers, and the general public to improve community health.

Winning projects were determined through a competitive, peer-reviewed process and will be added to NACCHO’s Innovative Practice searchable online database. There, other local health departments can review these best practices and adopt them for use in their local community.

2021 Innovative Practice Awards – Gold Winners:

• Alabama
  Jefferson County Department of Health, Online Naloxone Program

• Arizona
  Pima County Health Department, Mitigating the Impact of COVID-19 in Communities of Color

• California
  County of San Diego Health & Human Services Agency, San Diego County COVID-19 Response - Academic Detailing by Zip Code

• Colorado
  Metro Denver Partnership for Health, Collaborative Approaches to the COVID-19 Response

• Florida
  Florida Department of Health in Seminole County, Community Integrated Mobile Health Services
  Florida Department of Health in Pinellas County, Mitigating the Spread of COVID-19 in People Experiencing Homelessness

• New York
  Albany County Department of Health, Collaboration to Advance Mobile COVID-19 Testing in Underserved Communities
  Broome County Health Department, Broome County Mobile COVID-19 Rapid Testing Site

2021 Innovative Practice Awards – Silver Winners:

• California
  County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency, Operationalizing the Live Well San Diego Framework: a Population Health Approach to COVID 19 Pandemic

• Florida
  Florida Department of Health in Hillsborough County, Virtual Programming to Expand Chronic Disease Education

• Massachusetts
  Northampton Health Department, Regional Face Mask Distribution Program

• New York
  Rensselaer County Health Department, Naloxone Now - Free Contactless Delivery of Narcan
  Oswego County Health Department, Phone Bank to Promote Health Equity in the Pandemic Response in a Rural County

2021 Innovative Practice Awards – Bronze Winners:

• California
  County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency, Operationalizing the Live Well San Diego Framework during the COVID-19 Pandemic: COVID-19 Prevention Hygiene Kit Distribution Program
  County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency, Cross-border (San Diego Tijuana) COVID-19 Collaboration

• Colorado
  El Paso County Public Health, Supporting Data-based Dialogue During the COVID-19 Pandemic
  Tri-County Health Department, Developing a Homegrown, GIS-Based COVID-19 Case Investigation and Contact Tracing Software System by Leveraging Existing Internal Technology

• Florida
  Florida Department of Health in Broward County, Implementation of Mass Prophylaxis Plan for COVID 19 Testing
  Florida Department of Health in Broward County, COVID PH Safety: Fit Testing and Don/Doff Training: AHCA, County, Nat’l Guard, DOH, Nurses

• Iowa
  Johnson County Public Health, Integration of An Online Survey Tool To Streamline COVID-19 Case Investigations

• Kentucky
  Franklin County Health Department, COVID Testing Drive Thru Clinics Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness, Health Equity During a Pandemic

• Maryland
  Anne Arundel County Department of Health, Strengthening Families Program

• New York
  Nassau County Department of Health, COVID-19 Workforce Response
  New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Adapting in a Time of Crisis: A New Style of Providing Technical Assistance

• North Dakota
  Bismarck-Burleigh Public Health, Promoting Influenza Vaccine During a Pandemic: Strategies from Local Public Health

• Texas
  Houston Health Department, Better. Together. COVID-19 Communications and Outreach Campaign
  San Antonio Metropolitan Health District, Congregate Settings COVID Response Team
  San Antonio Metropolitan Health District, Community Outreach & Communications: San Antonio’s LHD Approach to COVID-19 in Communities of Color
  Tarrant County Public Health, Adapting Delivery - Curbside WIC Services During COVID-19

• Washington
  Public Health-Seattle and King County, Safe Start for Taverns & Restaurants (SSTAR) Program
  Public Health-Seattle and King County, Monitoring & Evaluation of COVID-19 Impacts on Social, Economic & Overall Health
  Snohomish Health District, Child Care Health Outreach Program, Maternal & Child Health, Prevention Services

2021 Innovative Practice Awards - Honorable Mention:

• Alabama
  Jefferson County Department of Health, Public Safety Expedited COVID-19 Testing Program

• Arizona
  Maricopa County Environmental Services Department, Introducing Virtual Food Safety Inspections at Long-Term Care and Other Food-Related Facilities

• California
  County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency, Community Health Worker Communication and Outreach Services

• Colorado
  Denver Public Health, Innovative Data Integration Techniques to Streamline COVID Case Management
  El Paso County Public Health, COVID-19 Regional Recover Council: A Balanced Approach to Public and Economic Health

• Florida
  Florida Department of Health in St. Lucie, Drive Thru HIV/STI Testing
  Florida Department of Health in Hillsborough County, Transforming WIC Program Services to Provide Uninterrupted Access to Care

• Georgia
  Cobb & Douglas Public Health, Power in Truth: The 2020 Virtual Experience

• Massachusetts
  Town of Brookline, Brookline Department of Public Health

• Michigan
  Ionia County Health Department, Providing Fruits and Vegetables to At-Risk Families during the COVID-19 Crisis

• Minnesota
  Carlton County Public Health & Human Services, Drive Through Immunization Clinic

• New York
  Madison County Department of Health, SARS-CoV2 Early Warning Surveillance Platform (SARS2-EWSP)

• Texas
  Houston Health Department, Houston COVID-19 Testing Plan to Address Access and Equity
  Harris County Public Health, Evaluating the COVID-19 Response through an In-Action Review (IAR)

• Virginia
  Alexandria Health Department, ALX Promise: Bridging Public Health and Economic Recovery

###

About NACCHO
The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) represents the nation’s nearly 3,000 local governmental health departments. These city, county, metropolitan, district, and tribal departments work every day to protect and promote health and well-being for all people in their communities. For more information about NACCHO, please visit www.naccho.org.

NACCHO Press Inquiries
Theresa Spinner, MA
[email protected]

About Contakt World
Contakt World is the first and only SaaS platform for public health that seamlessly links community engagement and advertising with case management software and communications to improve all health outcomes. Its award-winning risk management software (smart health RM) combines with time-tested strategies and vibrant creative to influence up to 250,000,000 American’s monthly across all advertising mediums, tracked with 30+ analytics tools (engagency). Contakt World’s goals include scaling the Health Equity Tracker Project via smart health RM to all local health agencies, improving vaccination rates through sole-source “Vaccinate with Confidence” advertising campaigns, and securely linking local health agencies, healthcare providers, and long-term care facilities through its platform to improve disease response in partnership with leading universities. For more information about Contakt World, please visit www.contakt.world.

Contakt World is party to a definitive amalgamation agreement with Tracker Ventures Corp. (“Tracker”) (CSE:TKR) pursuant to which Tracker will indirectly acquire (the “Acquisition”) a 100% interest in Contakt World. For further information respecting the Acquisition, please refer to Tracker’s news release dated December 8, 2020. Trading of Tracker’s shares on the Canadian Securities Exchange (the “CSE”) has been halted in connection with the announcement of the Acquisition and is not expected to resume until the CSE has approved a Form 2A Listing Statement for the resulting issuer from the Acquisition. There can be no assurance that the Acquisition will be completed on the terms proposed in the amalgamation agreement or at all.

Contakt World Press Inquiries
Luke Zimmerman
[email protected]