One of the nurses on my staff showed me an excellent article by Moos and Corrarino in the Nov/Dec 2004 MCN about local health departments. That article just "hit home" for us here in our little local health department. We have always been frustrated by the poor image that public health has in the private sector. I do hope you can get your article read by doctors as well, for private physicians could really benefit from this information. Also it would be a good article for one of the national newspapers. I've been an NP here doing maternity and family planning care for many years. I was a PHN before becoming an NP, so I am well aware of the wonderful work done by PHNs. The very argument that I have made in the past against our state privatizing maternity care is that private Obs do not have the staff nor the experience to deal with the many social problems encountered in our population of patients. I'm proud of the work we do, and it's nice to be vindicated in print. It would be nicer still if that "other" segment of the public could become more informed also.

Bonnie Darrell, RN

Virginia