ELLENVILLE � Residents concerned about the epidemic of H1N1, or Swine Flu, that has been making headlines since earlier this year were able to meet with Ulster County's recently appointed Public Health Director Dr. La Mar Hasbrouck on Monday night. The last in a series of town halls planned by the county health department to both inform the public about H1N1 and to introduce Hasbrouck to the public, the meeting was held at the Ellenville Government Center before the village's regular board of trustees meeting.

Hasbrouck, appointed in October, was introduced by County Executive Mike Hein.

"With Dr. La Mar Hasbrouck, I thought we had a transformative personality in our community," said Hein. "He has all the skills to make a difference, plus the passion to make public health a priority, and to take us to the point where Ulster County can be the healthiest county in all of New York State."

Hasbrouck wasted no time in speaking to the assembled residents and community officials about the facts regarding the county's Swine Flu response, including information about the county's supply of vaccines and the county's virus-spread prevention strategy. According to Hasbrouck's presentation, for the county's 181,000 residents, about 88,000 doses of the vaccine were needed. The state, however, was only able to provide 32,000.

The primary method of preventing the spread of the virus, said Hasbrouck, was an emphasis on hand-washing, to cover ones sneezes or coughs, to avoid crowds, and to minimize contact with those who are ill. The secondary method would be vaccination � which was relegated to the secondary position because of the shortage in doses provided to the county.

"We just don't have enough," said Hasbrouck. "We've got to get back to primary prevention as our foundation in terms of our plan and our response in keeping our families and our communities protected."

Hasbrouck also spoke about the Swine Flu vaccine clinics that were being held throughout the county this week, with Ellenville's to take place on Thursday evening at 5 p.m. at Ellenville Elementary School. The clinics were free of charge, and open to anyone who wished to receive a vaccine, regardless of residence. Hasbrouck explained that the clinics only asked for identification so as to correctly spell the vaccine recipients' names, and that no identification would be required for a person to receive a vaccination. He also pointed out that 5,000 of the vaccines provided to the county were being used specifically for the clinics.

While the number of reported cases of Swine Flu was down during the months of November and December, Hasbrouck pointed out that flu season would continue through April, and that no one yet knew when the next spike in cases would occur. The health director added that, because of this, the county would likely be receiving more vaccines throughout flu season to keep up with demand.

Hasbrouck said that he planned to have more town hall-type meetings like the one held on Monday as part of an effort to bring more community participation to the health department.

"I hope to have a lot more of these going forward, and we're going to tackle a lot of difficult health issues and concerns. And one of the things I really want to do in putting my stamp on the health department is open up the health department � to be more accessible, to be more responsive, to outwardly go out and solicit your ideas and your concerns, and this is one of these small steps."

Dr. Hasbrouck was formerly running the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Georgetown, Guyana, and has served in other administrative disease-prevention positions all over the world. He originally hails from California, and holds degrees from the UCLA School of Medicine and the University of California/Berkeley's School of Public Health.