History of the North Dakota Public Health Association
CELEBRATING OUR 65TH YEAR
The North Dakota Public Health Association was born on May 18th, 1944. Their first big Annual Meeting was held on October 12th 1944, at the Masonic Hall in Bismarck. One of the items on the agenda was post war planning in Public Health Nursing. An association meeting followed. Membership cards were sent out with the meeting notice. There were already 114 Charter Members. Their goal was to have 100% attendance at the meeting, which lasted from 8:30 am till noon. There was an initiation meeting before the regular meeting of the day.
In 1954, the annual meeting was already a 2-day event. It was held in Jamestown, ND. There were 110 members at that time.
By 1964, the annual meeting/conference was a 3-day event in Fargo, with speakers on such topics as “Medical Effects of Nuclear Weapons”, “Health Mobilization and the Disaster Environment”, “International Travel and Immunization”. The conference started off with an Invocation by a local Reverend. The membership stood at 167. The word was getting out.
In 1974, it was still ok to pray. The conference was scheduled for 3 days in Jamestown. Many of the local businesses helped sponsor the conference. Some topics that year: “How Public Television Could Contribute to Health Services in North Dakota”, “Automobile First Aid Kits”, “Alcohol Problems in ND”, and “Health Legislation”. The membership stood at 194. NDPHA was still growing; and so was their strength in the communities they were serving.
In 1984 they discovered the Western edge of ND, and came to Dickinson. Dick Hildebrand was the Master of Ceremonies. Many (10) of the present day staff at Southwestern District Health in Dickinson, were on the “Local Arrangements” committee. By now, the membership had skyrocketed to 235. Talk about strength, recognition, and the people to make things happen!
In 1994, NDPHA celebrated their 50th Anniversary in Fargo. Many Universities were sponsoring the Conference as well as the ND Academy of Physician Assistants. Some of the topics were: Recruitment, Medication Reduction on Older Adults, Rural Pharmacies, Long Term Care Task Force Update, and Types of Dementia. The membership was down to 198. Many members were retiring, moving on. The need for recruitment was discussed.
2004 the conference was in Fargo again. There were 33 Exhibitors. Financial contributors were some of the State’s largest Businesses, Universities, and Health Care Agencies. Keynote speakers were nationally known in their fields. Even Sara Schelkoph, the “Dancing Nurse” from UND spoke on “Nurses for our Nation”. Sara was an RN, BSN at Altru at the time. Membership was down to 153, with 10 of those being Lifetime Members. It was time to do some recruiting! The task was attacked.
And now, here we are: 65 years of making a small, determined group grow into an Association that people know and respect. There are 225 Members. 11 of those are Lifetime Members. The work of the North Dakota Public Health Association does not get done without the constant, continued, high quality commitment of its Governing Council, its Committee Members, and its Charter Members. Their dedication to our small communities is the reason we did not go through with our planned Conference in March of this year. The State was facing floods on many fronts. We were all needed in our own communities, or in someone else’s. And we did it with pride, as usual. Personal sacrifice was made by many to help where help was needed.
The next many years should be as exciting, and filled with growth, as were the last 65 years. We all look forward to a terrific conference each spring.