Summit County, Utah (May 27, 2021) — On Thursday May 21, 2021 recently-retired Summit County Nursing Director, Carolyn Rose was awarded the Beatty Award by the Utah Public Health Association (UPHA) for her significant contributions to Public Health in Utah. The Beatty Award is presented annually to a member of the UPHA who embodies leadership in their field of public health and whose work has made a lasting impact on the public health of Utah.
“This award is fitting for a person like Carolyn with expertise and accomplishments in public health nursing, epidemiology and informatics,” Summit County Health Director, Rich Bullough said. “There aren’t words to fully express her profound impact on the public health of our county and the state of Utah. Carolyn’s dedication to her staff and the various programming she oversaw throughout her career in Public Health should be celebrated.”
In her 19-plus years as the Summit County Health Department Nursing Director, Rose played an instrumental role in numerous health programs throughout her career, including a dedication to providing continuous women’s health services for community members at low cost, arranging for nurse practitioners to service all county health locations and providing services to clients of People’s Health Clinic and the Peace House in Park City. During her tenure, she helped the county navigate the 2002 Olympic Games, the H1N1 virus or “swine flu” of 2009, and most recently the COVID-19 pandemic. Rose also coordinated dental clinics for the community’s underserved and uninsured and was a chairperson and active participant in shifting communicable disease reporting to a statewide electronic system called EpiTrax.
Even though she officially retired from her position at the Health Department in the fall of 2020, Rose’s contribution to the local fight against COVID-19 continued. She returned to serve the county’s residents in January 2021 at the county’s COVID-19 mass vaccination clinic located at the Utah Film Studios. Her leadership at the mass vaccination clinic contributed to the county’s overwhelmingly successful mass vaccination efforts.
“This award is a demonstration of Carolyn’s unwavering commitment at the local and state level to seeing us through health challenges ranging from H1N1 to opioid use among teens and, above all, her dedication to getting our county through the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic,” Phil Bondurant, Summit County Health Department’s Deputy Director said.
Rose was also involved with the Utah Cancer Action Network, served as Co-Chair of the National Cities & County Association among other programs, organizations and accomplishments. For more information on the Beatty award, visit UPHA.org.