In this Spotlight segment from our full converation with Chirag Bhatt, he discuss how he got into public health and became a health inspector.  He discusses the progression of his journey from new inspector to Bureau Chief in the City of Houston before going into industry leading the food safety team for Outback Steakhouse (Bloomin Brands) and Buc-ees.

You can reach Chirag at [email protected]

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In this episode we have a fascinating conversation with HS GovTech's own Chirag Bhatt to discuss his 40+ years of service to public health.

Chirag started as an inspector, before rising to Bureau Chief in the City of Houston EH Department before ultimately working in leadership at Bloomin Brands (Outback Steakhouse) and Buc-ees, ultimately finding himself working with EH departments all over that nation as the Director of Regulatory Affairs for HS GovTech.

Chirag discuses numerous topics including:
-How inspections today are different from 40 years ago 
-Political battles with powerful interests and elected leaders over transparency to the public
-The impact of social media on departments and on industry
-How the food code is made and modified (overview of the Conference for Food Protection)
-The time he - while the bureau chief with the health department had a fingernail clipping in his iced tea.
-Managing budgets in uncertain times

There is something for everyone in any position in this hour long conversation.

You can reach Chirag at [email protected] and can reach us here at the Beyond Data Management Podcast with feedback, ideas, or whatever is on your mind at [email protected]

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Today we have a wide ranging conversation with Steve Mandernach - the Executive Director of AFDO (Association of Food and Drug Officials).  Steve takes us through the many pressing issues facing health departments today.  Including:

-Daily cuts and rumors of cuts and how your agency can built capacity and resilience in spite of what the federal picture may be
-Reframing the relationship between regulating agencies and industry in service of public health
-Candid conversation about the current public health framework around cannabis, including discussing where federal leadership has failed
-Explanation of what happened to SAFHER project
-Data and AI and the new world it brings to Environmental and Public Health
-Some of the best, real world, advice on finding your passion and how it changes everything
-As one of the most experienced people in the Iowa primaries, Steve reflects on his relationship with several presidents and discusses what he's learned from them about leadership and durable relationships.

We want to thank Steve for taking the time to have this impactful conversation.  You can reach him at  [email protected] and you can reach us here at the Beyond Podcast at [email protected]

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In this episode we have a conversation with Chris Lewis the COO of COREBT.  A former professional football player who has spent the last 20 years on a personal mission to change the way governments collect payments from constituents, and in the process change the efficiency of their operations while providing a far better experience to the citizens they serve.

Chris talks about the journey from cash and checks - which are still all too common - to the emerging modern agency of the future that interacts with constituents in the same one-click method as modern e-commerce giants like Amazon.

Regardless of where your agency is in their payment modernization journey today's conversation has information you can use.

You can reach Chris at [email protected], and as always you can reach us here at the Beyond Data Management Podcast at [email protected]

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An estimated 48 million Americans are hit by food borne illness cases every year, many of which go unreported.  When it comes to preventing food borne illness more information is important, and environmental health departments play a pivotal role.  

Today's conversation is with Patrick Quade founder and CEO of Dine Safe www.iwaspoisoned.com.  Patrick has spent the last 15+ years helping departments get more information on illness outbreaks, along with tools to help departments manage this important responsibility more thoroughly and easily.  You can reach Patrick at [email protected] 

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Food trucks have become a big part of our modern food culture.  However, from a regulatory perspective, they present unique challenges for environmental health departments.  From the rate of un-permitted vendors, to keeping up with trucks and being able to find them quickly when you need to inspect them, the need for better communication, tools, and cooperation with this growing part of the food service industry has never been more pressing.

In this episode we talk to Matt Gellar; founder of the national food truck association, Best Food Truck and Revolution Carts.

Matt's passion for food trucks has led him to partner with health departments to make safe, legal, permitted, mobile vending more broadly available.  We also discuss his new tools that helps health departments find where food trucks are quickly and easily when it's time for inspection.

You can reach Matt at: [email protected]

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Today we chat with Caitlin Gappa about the challenges of starting up a new environmental health department, with the added complexity of doing so during the pandemic.  

You can reach Caitlin at [email protected]

If you have any questions, comments, feedback, or you have an idea for an episode topic or guest, we would love to hear from you:  [email protected]

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Van is the director of the Marion County Ohio Environmental Health Department.  Until 8 years ago Van was completely in the private sector, running his family winery - Shamrock Vineyards - in Ohio.  https://shamrockvineyard.com.  

Van has taken a passion for public service combined with his experience building and running a business to bring a new energy and perspective to his department.

You can reach Van at [email protected]

If you have comments, suggestions, or ideas for future episode topics, guests etc we'd love to hear from you: [email protected]

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The first episode of the new Beyond Data Management Podcast.  Today we chat with CEO of HS GovTech Silas Garrison about innovating for Environmental Health public servants.

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