Waterloo - Talking Healthcare @ the Black Hawk County Health Dept.

Our second stop today brought us to Waterloo and Black Hawk County Public Health.

When we pulled up to the building, I immediately recognized it. It is the old St. Francis Hospital, and after the floods of 2008, my husband John worked for the Small Business Administration, and his office was based out of the same building.

We held our event in the old chapel. It is a really cool building, and an interesting place to hold an event.

We had a very nice visit, and it was great to meet with those who are on the front lines of health care in our state. This event also gave me the opportunity to recognize my press secretary - Troy - for a big achievement. Over the weekend, he celebrated his 100th day without smoking.

Troy is not alone in the number of people who have quit smoking in recent years.
As a former smoker, I know first hand the effects that smoking can have on people. That is why as Lt. Governor, I have worked hard with the Governor to curb smoking our state. And, I'm proud to say - we have been successful.

In our first year, we increased the user fee on tobacco products $1/pack. And we followed that up the next year by eliminating smoking in all public places.

As a result, over the last three years, 79,000 Iowans have quit smoking, and per capita consumption of tobacco is down 50 percent.

There were some people who were not happy with us, but we did it anyway because it was the right thing to do. And with fewer smokers today, we know we were right.

Well, we are back on the road. We hope to grab a bite to eat before we head on to our next event in Waverly.

Until next time,

Patty