​Kane County Health Department Milestones

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Quality of Kane open house.

Kane Kares video production by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.


Immunization Clinic at Cougars Stadium.

Walk to School Day at Freeman School in Aurora.



TB Screening at Hesed House in Aurora.

​2013

  • Kane County Health Department accredited by Public Health Accreditation Board.​

2011 

  • Community Health Assessment process begun in partnership with five hospitals, Inc Board, United Way. 
  • Health Department Strategic planning goals set. 
  • Quality of Kane initiative begun. 

2010 

  • Uncertain funding from the state caused discontinuance of most direct services, resulting in the layoffs of 60 employees. Health Department re-aligned to reflect 10 essential services. 
  • Accreditation process begun 

2009 

  • In April 2009, grants totaling $160,000 were made to three Kane County community coalitions—Activate Elgin, the Healthy Living Council of Aurora, and the Delnor Hospital. KCHD started a community garden of about one acre in size down the street from the Aurora office on Highland Avenue 
  • H1N1 pandemic. During the spring, five schools closed when students were diagnosed as “probable” cases. CDC guidance changed, and no more schools were closed. However, public health agencies needed to gear up for the “second wave” expected to hit in the fall. On Oct. 26, KCHD conducted three simultaneous mass clinics at local high schools, where we vaccinated more than 10,000 people. A second mass clinic was conducted at Elfstrom Stadium on Dec. 5, when another 1,830 people were vaccinated. And close to 10,000 more took advantage of KCHD’s appointment-based system, for a total of 21,586 vaccinated. 

2008 

  • First “Vital Signs” published, presenting a report card to the community on the state of our residents’ health. The action plan is a summary of the ongoing work by the Department and its community partners on our five community health priorities. 
  • Fit for Kids Funders Consortium formed 

2007 

  • In January, a food service worker at a restaurant in Geneva was diagnosed with Hepatitis A, which set in motion what would become one of Kane County Health Department’s most ambitious initiatives to protect the public. By the end of the week, more than 3,000 customers received IG shots, and KCHD staff had returned more than 1,000 calls taken on the hotline. The health department received no reports of any cases of hepatitis A. 
  • A Health Department sanitarian found that a store in Aurora was selling homemade, unlicensed cheese. A laboratory analysis found that this cheese was contaminated with the same salmonella PFG as that which a total of 52 Kane County residents, 17 in 2006 and 35 in 2007, were sickened. In October, a Kane County judge fined the grocery store $3,000 after its owners pled guilty to selling “improperly labeled” and “adulterated” cheese. 
  • Mary Lou England retires, Paul Kuehnert named Executive Director • Making Kane County Fit for Kids campaign is launched 
  • County Board Chairman Karen McConnaughay convened a future search conference to map out the future of the Health Department. More than 75 stakeholders and decision makers participated over a period of two days on May 15 and 16. 
  • County received nearly 14 inches of rain in August, while the average monthly total is 4.62 inches, causing the Fox River and its tributaries to flood. KCHD staff worked closely with American Red Cross chapters, as well the Kane County departments of the Office of Emergency Management, Water Resources, Development, and the Division of Transportation. 

2006 

Third IPLAN adopted; The health priorities are: 
  • Increase access to health care—both primary care and specialty care—for Kane residents who are uninsured and under-insured (more than 60,000 Kane residents are estimated to be affected) 
  • Eliminate the higher infant death rate experienced by Kane County’s African-American community (currently this rate is 3 times higher than Kane’s overall rate) 
  • Prevent Cardiovascular Diseases (the number 1 killer in Kane County) 
  • Increase Access to Mental Health Care (currently a very fragmented “system” in Kane County) 
  • Maintain core Public Health services that protect all Kane residents (e.g., restaurant inspections, well and septic services, and emergency preparedness and response) 

2005 

  • Kane County Health Department marks 20-year anniversary 

2004 

  • KCHAIN (Kane Community Health Access Integrated Network) is a new countywide initiative that targets low income uninsured, underinsured, and publicly insured residents of Kane County. 
  • A northern Illinois regional pertussis outbreak which included Kane County resulted in identification of 140 cases of pertussis during 2004 in contrast to 2 cases in 2003.​