History and Mission

About the Center -- History & Mission:

Mission & Purpose:

The mission of the FSU-COM Center for Medicine and Public Health is to promote collaboration, coordination, and integration of medicine and public health at all levels of practice (federal, state, and local), and across the entire continuum of prevention (primary, secondary, and tertiary). The center will promote more optimal and equitable health for individuals and communities through research, education, policy change, and innovation.

History:

Dr. Les Beitsch founded the Center in 2012, building on his wide network of contacts in public health and medicine. The Center has collaborated with a wide range of partners in Tallahassee, in Florida, and across the U.S., such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, the National Association of County and City Health Officials, the National Network of Public Health Institutes, the Public Health Foundation, the Florida Medical Association (FMA), Capital Medical Society, and state and local health departments. Previous projects included the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded Multi-State Learning Collaborative (MLC) on quality improvement and evidence based public health practice. Dr. Beitsch also served on the National Academies of Science Institute of Medicine committee examining the future of public health practice in a reformed health care system, and participated in the FMA Council on Public Health.

To accomplish these broad objectives, the Center collaborates with a wide range of partners in Tallahassee, in Florida, and across the U.S., including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, the National Association of County and City Health Officials, the National Association of Community Health Centers, state primary care associations, the National Network of Public Health Institutes, the Public Health Foundation, the Florida Medical Association (FMA), Capital Medical Society, and state and local health departments.

Examples of current projects illustrate the scope of activities. Efforts through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded Multi-State Learning Collaborative (MLC) have resulted in greater emphasis on quality improvement and evidence based public health practice. Dr. Beitsch has served on the National Academies of Science / Institute of Medicine committee examining the future of public health practice in a reformed health care system, another mechanism that may influence how medicine and public health relate to one another as disciplines in the future.

After founding the National Center for Primary Care at Morehouse School of Medicine, Dr. Rust played a founding role in the Morehouse School of Medicine & Bristol-Myers Squibb diabetes health equity partnership, which brings clinical and community stakeholders from across the nation together in a learning collaborative to promote and demonstrate the power of integrating clinical care, community health promotion, and outcomes data feedback loops in a team-based collaborative care model (learn more at DiabetesHealthEquity.org). He has made presentations advocating closer integration of primary care and public health at CDC, Office of the Asst Secretary for Health (DHHS/OASH), AHRQ, and various state public health and primary care organizations.  He brought this passion for integration to FSU in 2016.

Dr. Rust currently serves as medical director for the Leon County Health Department and five surrounding rural counties.