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2012
Officers |
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Chair
Liz Auch,
Countryside Public Health
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ELIZABETH (LIZ) AUCH, PHN, is
the Countryside Public Health Administrator and the Director of
Nursing for Countryside Public Health. Liz began her journey in
public health in 1993 working at Richland County Public Health
Department in North Dakota. In 1999, she moved to Benson, Minnesota
and began her public health work at Countryside Public Health. She
directs a five-county southwest rural public health department
overseeing a population of approximately 49,000 residents and over
30 employees. Countryside Public Health is a full service public
health entity with offices in each of the five counties.
As the Administrator, Liz leads the agency in these areas of public
health: Disease Prevention and Control, Case Management services for
the elderly and disabled, Health Promotion, Women, Infants and
Children program, Environmental Health, Emergency Preparedness,
Family Health, Statewide Health Improvement Plan (SHIP), Home
visiting, and an Informatics team.
Liz has a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of North
Dakota, Grand Forks, ND. Liz has taken a variety of classes and
seminars on Leadership and Management throughout her career. Liz has
been on various SCHSAC workgroups in the last 10 years. She also is
the secretary of Southwest MIIC Registry.
Liz and her husband Robert reside in Benson, MN and have two
daughters. Liz spends most of her spare time attending her
daughter’s activities throughout the school year.
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Chair-Elect
Gretchen Musicant,
City of Minneapolis |
Gretchen Musicant is
the City of
Minneapolis
Health Commissioner where she
oversees the Minneapolis Department of Health and Family Support.
Gretchen previously served the City of Minneapolis as the Director
for Public Health Initiatives. Prior to working for the City,
Gretchen was Vice President of Community Health for the Minnesota
Hospital Association and a Government Affairs Specialist for the
Minnesota Nurses Association. During her time with MNA, Gretchen
worked with the Minnesota Public Health Nursing Directors’
Association, which was one of the two organizations that merged to
become the Local Public Health Association.
Gretchen currently serves on the LPHA Executive Committee and
represents LPHA on the Healthy Minnesotans 2020 Committee and MDH
Office of Minority and Multicultural Health/Eliminating Health
Disparities Advisory Committee. She has also served for two terms on
the NACCHO Health Equity and Social Justice Committee. Gretchen has
chaired several state-wide and regional efforts including: the
Universal Coverage Committee of the Minnesota Health Care
Commission, The Minnesota Visiting Nurse Agency Board, The Social
Conditions and Health Action Team of the Minnesota Department of
Health, the Healthier Minnesota Community Clinic Fund, and the
University of Minnesota, School of Public Health Alumni Society.
Gretchen has both a BS in Nursing and a Masters in Public Health
from the University of Minnesota. She was the 2007 recipient of the
Paul and Sheila Wellstone Public Health Achievement Award given by
the Minnesota Public Health Association and has been designated one
of the 100 Distinguished Nursing Alumni of the University of
Minnesota School of Nursing.
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Treasurer
Jennifer Deschaine,
Scott County |
Jennifer Deschaine
has been the Community Health Administrator and
Public Health Director for Scott County since 2000. She also
oversees the Employment and Training and the Day Training &
Habilitation programs in Scott County and is an adjunct faculty
member for the Bethel University Graduate Nursing program. She is
active in the MICA (Minnesota Inter-County Association) health
committee, having served as a chair of the committee in 2006.
Jennifer is a graduate of Saint Mary’s School of Nursing in
Rochester, received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing at Bethel
College in St. Paul and completed her Masters of Art in Nursing with
a Leadership and Management Emphasis at Bethel University in St.
Paul.
Prior to coming to Scott County, Jennifer worked in a variety of
settings. She worked in Mental Health from 1968 to 1981. Seven of
those years she had a private practice in Counseling at the
Minneapolis Clinic of Neurology and Psychiatry. From 1981 to 1992
Jennifer worked at a small community hospital in St. Peter,
Minnesota as the Director of Emergency, Surgical, Out Patient, and
Ambulance services. From there she moved back to the Twin Cities for
a job with the Minnesota Department of Health in the Community
Health Services Division as the Director of Emergency Medical
Services. From 1995 to 2000 she was the Physicians Relation
Coordinator for Bethesda Hospital in St. Paul. In that position she
traveled throughout the state and visited public health and social
services agencies, physician groups, clinic and hospital systems,
and worked with health plans.
Jennifer has four daughters and three grandsons that are the light
of her life. Just ask her! She has pictures!
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Secretary
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Sharon Braaten,
Pope County
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SHARON BRAATEN is the Director of the Pope County Public Health
Department and serves currently as the Administrator for the
Mid-State Community Health Board.
Sharon obtained her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. She has worked in local public
health for 23 years, all in Pope County. She began her public health
career as a family health nurse and was appointed as the agency
director in 1990. She has served in a variety of positions at the
regional LPHA level, has served on the LPHA Policy and Practice
Committee and LPHA Legislative Committee and is currently one of the
LPHA representatives on the DHS County-State Relationships in HCBS
Waivers workgroup. Sharon lives with her husband Dan on the family
farm in rural Glenwood and has 2 adult sons and 3 grandchildren. She
enjoys sewing, quilting and gardening in her spare time.
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