Since coming to Howard County as health officer more than two years ago, Dr. Peter Beilenson has created a universal health care system for county residents to protect them from going without medical care while sick. He’s encouraged schools and restaurants to serve more nutritious food to prevent residents from getting fat.
 
He’s put up signs in parks and schools that say, “When thunder roars, go indoors,” to protect children from getting struck by lightning. And, most recently, he’s moved to ban teens from visiting tanning salons to protect them from the harmful effects of ultraviolet rays.

In health circles, Beilenson is known as an innovator. He says he and County Executive Kenneth Ulman are trying to create the “model public health community” for the country.
 
“The thing that sold me on it was he wanted to make this the model public health community in the country. It’s an ambitious goal for a new county executive,” said Beilenson, 49, who during his 13 years as Baltimore Health Commission won numerous public health awards. “In other words, I don’t really like presiding over the status quo.”
 
But his detractors have another name for community he and Ulman are trying to build: “The Nanny State.”

On Internet message boards and in more conservative political chambers, many of these health initiatives have been mocked as silly, wasteful and paternalistic.
 
“Have you read some of the literature they put out for the Healthy Howard plan?” asks County Council member Gregory Fox, the council’s lone Republican, referring to Beilenson’s universal health care system that currently enrolls about 400 county residents. “It tells people to take a walk with your spouse and order a side salad instead of fries. This is what we needed to create a new bureaucracy for?”
 
Joan Becker, the chairwoman of the Republican Central Committee in Howard County, says she believes local government is “trying to overreach into people’s private lives.”

“The health department has become almost like the third arm of government now, and it shouldn’t be that way,” Becker said. “Should you be eating a side salad? Yeah, you should. But it’s not really government’s role to be telling people to do that.”
 
Ulman defends initiatives

Ulman says he realizes some of the health initiatives he and Beilenson have pursued “push right up against” that line of government overstepping its bounds, but he doesn’t think they’ve crossed it.
 
He said he’s heard from a few critics, but, generally speaking, he believes Howard County residents like most of his initiatives that encourage citizens to act a certain way.
 
“The No. 1 compliment I get is about the blue recycling bins,” Ulman says, referring to the large blue bins given to county residents last year as an incentive to recycle. “People say, ‘We love the blue bins.’ The blue bin is the perfect example of what government should do.”
 
Ulman is quick to point out that only two of his health initiatives are flat-out bans: The smoking ban in bars and restaurants he helped pass while on the County Council in 2006 and the latest move to ban minors from tanning salons. The other health initiatives, such as encouraging restaurants and schools to serve more healthful food, have been done through voluntary, incentive programs, Ulman said.
 
“We could have banned trans fats, as some other jurisdictions did,” Ulman said. “But I thought that went too far. There’s that constant struggle about, ‘What is the role of government?’ and, ‘How far is too far?’ ”

County spokesman Kevin Enright said some friends joked with him about the “When thunder roars, go indoors,” press conference Beilenson gave in July in front of a multitude of media outlets. But the county spokesman said he’s become a true believer in the issue.

Many football coaches know to send their players indoors when they see lightning, but don’t necessarily send the kids inside during thunder, Enright said.
 
“Our health department is taking on some of the big issues nationally,” Ulman said. “He [Beilenson] has put together a team of innovative people and innovative projects. I’m really pleased with it.”
 
Relishing role of innovator

Coming off 13 years as Baltimore City’s Health Commissioner, Beilenson — a graduate of Harvard College, Emory University School of Medicine and Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health — said Ulman convinced him to come to Howard County during an interview, when the newly elected county executive told the former congressional candidate of his vision for the job.
 
“It’s really rare to have a suburban county executive care about anything other than development, education and keeping crime down,” Beilenson said. “He really wanted to be an innovator.”
 
The innovation came quickly and won the duo national attention. The Healthy Howard Access Plan has been featured on CNN, National Public Radio, and other media outlets across the country. Beilenson has testified about the plan before congress.

Beilenson says all the attention the county has received is due to the “proactive” steps Ulman has encouraged him to take.
 
Before he started the job, Beilenson says he wrote down his goals on a piece of paper: He wanted to build a universal health care plan in Howard County, create a “Healthy Howard” initiative that would encourage restaurants and schools to provide healthy food, implement a program called “Healthy Seniors” and increase enrollment in the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

Other than “Healthy Seniors,” each of those initiatives has been started.
 
The health care plan, called the Healthy Howard Access Plan, has 400 residents enrolled. More than 20 restaurants and 25 schools have been certified as serving healthy food. And CHIP enrollment in the county has risen, Beilenson said.
 
“We’ve actually done most of what we laid out to do two or three years ago,” Beilenson says.
 
Michael McPherson, chairman of the Howard County Democratic Central Committee, said Beilenson has set a high standard for health commissioners across the country.
 
“He’s done one hell of a job,” McPherson said. “The health department in this county is visible and providing a service to the residents. I think he’s been a very effective voice for the department.”
 
As much as he’s become known for his proactive programs, Beilenson also has been a voice of calm on recent diseases like H1N1, SARS and the West Nile virus — illnesses often hyped in the media, but less severe than more common sicknesses, like the regular, seasonal flu.
 
“My stance was one of cautious reassurance,” he said. “My thing is, basically, tell it like it is. If you cry wolf, by the second time they’re not going to be paying attention anymore.”
 
“It doesn’t do us a lot of good in society to be worried all the time,” he said. “It’s actually unhealthy for you in the long run in terms of biological health, blood pressure, stress, anxiety, when every second day, if you follow the 24-hour media, there’s something that can kill you all t he time. It’s just not true. Human beings are very resilient. If you’re basically a healthy person, your body is pretty good at protecting you.”
 
In Baltimore, ‘so many problems’

In Baltimore, Beilenson faced endemic health problems on a daily basis, which won him acclaim, but didn’t give him as much opportunity to “get ahead” of problems.

“The biggest difference is that in Baltimore, you’re very reactive. There are so many problems that are coming up all the time,” he said.
 
“I’ve been asked, ‘Why didn’t you do the health plan in Baltimore?’ It’s mainly because, well, syphilis popped up, or we had a bunch of tuberculosis cases, or there was some bad heroin on the street and drug overdoses were going up or teen pregnancy was an issue. There just aren’t that many problems in Howard County.”

Though he didn’t enact a health care plan in Baltimore, Beilenson’s team did implement a large needle exchange program to address the spread of AIDS, tripled funding for drug treatment and founded an organization called “Health Care For All” in Maryland. He was recognized nationally by the American Public Health Association for “creative public health work. His successor, Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, has said Beilenson changed the image of the city’s health department, earning a reputation for “innovation and progress.”
 
Then, Beilenson ran for U.S. Congress in 2006, taking a third of the vote in a competitive three-way Democratic primary in the third congressional district. He lost by a narrow margin to current U.S. Rep. John Sarbanes.
 
He doesn’t think he’ll run again for office.

 “It was hard on my family and a huge percentage of the time was spent raising money,” he said. “We had 4,000 donors. I was really struck by the generosity of people. There’s nothing in return. They just believe in you. I raised almost $1 million, which was phenomenal, but it was really unpleasant.”
 
When not working in public health, Beilenson, father of five, spends much of his time coaching his kids’ soccer, baseball, lacrosse and basketball teams.
 
“I’ve coached their teams for 27 seasons,” he says. “Our career record is 120-72-19.”
 
Beilenson, his wife, Chris, a social worker, and his family live in the Cedarcroft neighborhood of Baltimore.
 
‘Right’ to health coverage

Beilenson says the Healthy Howard plan could be a model nationally for President Barack Obama’s health plans, but he thinks the working poor will not be able to afford health care under current proposals.
 
“Tens of millions will not be able to get coverage. They’ll just be penalized on their taxes,” he said. “Everyone should have health coverage. It’s a human right in my mind.”

Beilenson said he takes umbrage with arguments made by some critics of universal health care that the working poor should drop their cable television or cell phone as a way to pay for their health coverage.
 
“You’ve got to take into account the real world,” Beilenson said. “People are allowed to have televisions. If [health care] is a basic human right, you’ve got to make it available to everybody. There’s got to be bigger subsidies.”

But Fox said Howard County could never serve as a suitable model for the nation, because demographics here are so different from much of the country.
 
“This is the wealthiest county in the wealthiest state in the nation. How in the heck can you consider us the model?” he said. “This is pure marketing stuff to get Ken Ulman’s name out there.”
 
Still, Beilenson said he’s committed to building that model community. As he seeks to do so, Beilenson said he believes every resident should have the following four “basic human rights:” Health care, “decent” housing, “quality” education and a living wage job.
 
“I think that’s the goal of our society to try and do that,” he said.
 
“Most people think of health departments as serving only poor people who don’t have health coverage or the place you go for your syphilis or gonorrhea test. There is a health department here in Howard that is very active. We’re broader than the typical view of a local health department.” 

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user comments (12)

user commonsenseplease says...

Nanny state. This guy was at the top of his career running a big city health department with plenty of problems to keep him on TV. Now he's in a much different Howard Co, so he needs to inflate problems and create programs and laws to keep his face out there. He and the County Exec make quite a pair.

Posted 5:54 PM, 10.07.09 | Permalink

user hocoterp01 says...

I really like the initiatives, and think they are common sense. I'm a repub and in no way would describe Howard County as a Nanny State.... If you have a specific qualm, I would suggest emailing Mr. Beilenson- I've sent emails before and received a prompt thoughtful response.

Posted 6:05 PM, 10.07.09 | Permalink

user lilly says...

please, be fair. past generations of parents were more at home. kids were more at home. communication and reinforcement are the way kids learn. the admonitions are there because we haven't learned, and we haven't learned because of family structural changes. step in the government. it's great. lots of folks who are all grown up need this reinforcement.

Posted 10:05 PM, 10.07.09 | Permalink

user milton says...

As arrogant and stupid as some of these nanny state health initiatives are, they aren’t quite as arrogant and stupid as the government telling gays who they can marry or allowing the FDA to regulate what drugs a dying cancer patient can use or legislating what a woman can do with her own body. The world is not as simple as these foolish politicians think, and they cannot fix everything by moving us lowly citizens around like pawns on a chessboard. The road to hell really is paved with good intentions.

Posted 10:54 PM, 10.07.09 | Permalink

user hocomudgeon says...

Ulman and Beilenson embody the essence of the liberal approach to public policy. In Ulman's own words: "push right up against” that line of government overstepping its bounds. The motivation is not altruism, but the exercise of power over others. Once the Ulmans of the world have pushed right up to that line, they then try to make it bend...maybe just a bit...until a new line is established to push up against. Beilenson perverts the concept of "basic human rights" when he declares that health care, “decent” housing, “quality” education and a living wage job make up the list. How come life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness didn't make the cut? Our founders never saw government as being all things to all people. Once government takes on that role, it necessarily must take wealth from one group and give it to another. And where does that end? Today it's health care and tomorrow maybe color TVs.

Posted 1:56 PM, 10.08.09 | Permalink

user observer says...

Yeah, some of the initiatives seem to go a bit overboard--seeking to help protect people from unlikely events (i.e. getting struck by lightning). But then some of our residents are just plain stupid: they make poor health choices like eating crappy food, smoking, getting zero exercise, driving drunk... So maybe these folks NEED reminders.

Posted 9:32 PM, 10.08.09 | Permalink

user belovedcartoonmouse says...

Can we please have our health officials curing cancer before focusing on fat-free "mayonaise" in school cafeterias? I'd prefer my tax dollars went to a real cause.

Posted 11:46 PM, 10.09.09 | Permalink

user commonsenseplease says...

If I want to allow my kid to tan a couple of times before the prom, or get some color before we go to Florida in the middle of the winter, that's my right as a parent. If Ulman and Beilinson think some parents aren't capable of protecting their kids, with which I agree 200%, then round those people up and get them a gauardian or something. Just because some folks can't handle the rights they have, don't try to take mine away. I'm glad this discussion has turned to classic liberal/conservative values and the various visions of our elected officials. Howard County hook a hard left turn in ourt last election and it's going to continue down this road with this leadership. They stay mired in health plans and tanning instead of getting some new jobs to move here. They aren't dealing with the embarrassing decay in our older neighborhoods, most of which are in Columbia, because they'd rather let the CA beatniks run things. Folks, wake up. I know we were all mad a George Bush in 2006 so we felt the need to punish him by electing hard liberals to run our County, but hopefully what's happening here and on the national level will wake us up in 2010.

Posted 8:55 AM, 10.11.09 | Permalink

user says...

Here's the danger in the "it all sounds good" liberal agenda: when speaking about those four basic human rights, what is defined by health care, "decent housing," "quality" education, and a living wage job? Does health care mean MRIs on demand and other expensive testing and cutting edge treatment for everyone? Does decent housing mean more than a solid roof, running water, and heat? Or does it mean AC, cable, and high speed internet access for all? Does quality education mean college for all? And lastly, does a living wage job mean shifting the responsibility from workers bringing a marketable skill set and work ethic to the marketplace to an obligation for society to guarantee full employment? Dr. Bielenson's supposed rights are admirable goals for society; but they are not rights. Rights are absolute and timeless principles like free speech and freedom of religion. True rights require all of us to protect them, lest the deprivation of one of us mean the loss for all. Over the years, many people have died to protect our rights. I can't imagine anyone making the ultimate sacrifice to protect someone's right to a "living wage job". The things Dr. Bielenson wants, well, we have to work for them. And there's the danger. By calling them rights, liberals like Dr. Bielenson give permission for government to make them entitlements and fund them by taxing those who create value and work for those same things without them being entitled to them. And as soon as part of the population figures out it can get for free what the rest of the population is working hard to achieve, then we've created a crippling defect in society for all of us. I thought Patrick Moynihan figured this out which led to welfare reform in the 1990s. But I guess idealists don't bother to learn.

Posted 8:28 PM, 10.12.09 | Permalink

user independent says...

Siding with a team like the Republicans or the Democrats erupts into a game involving significant and dysfunctional amounts of ego - initial ideology easily gets lost, eclipsed by loyalty to the chosen team. The best team is us, regular voters. If we do not want our tax dollars used to support decisions that have been made over the past years, then we'll choose to use our votes against incumbents in 2010 regardless of party affiliation. That is the only solution to our loss of rights, whether tanning beds or dismissing of 18,000 signatures to put land use items on the ballot.

Posted 7:39 AM, 10.13.09 | Permalink

user towsontiger says...

I'm a Democrat, I voted for Ken Ulman, but I also have a libertarian streak and this nanny state stuff has to stop. Everyone should be able to see a doctor without it bankrupting them, but I don't want the government making personal choices for me or my family. I'm sure Mr. Beilenson is pro-choice, pro-gay equality, and maybe even for legalizing some drugs. But I wish he'd let adults choose whether they can smoke, eat red meat, choose fries instead of a salad, ride a motorcycle without a helmet, and figure out the best way to raise their own kids. I'd like to ask Ulman and Bielenson this, if its ok for a teenage girl to get an abortion why isn't it okay for her to get a tan? Her body, her choice.

Posted 1:55 PM, 10.13.09 | Permalink

user alex says...

About two years ago when Dr.Bielenson was running for an office in Maryland he campaigned also in Israel using MD taxpayer’s money right before the election. I was able to read about his visit only in Jewish newspapers but not in Explorer and not in Baltimore Sun. Why was he campaigning in Israel? When he should be helping the citizens of Maryland if elected. Dr. Bielenson only cares for his political future but nothing else. He should be first an American before anything else!

Posted 4:15 PM, 10.18.09 | Permalink