As former public health officials, we’ve lived through the challenges that local health departments face daily. We’ve worked late nights manually entering disease reports, juggled multiple systems during outbreak responses, and seen talented staff burn out from administrative burden rather than spending time with their communities. But we’ve done more than witness these challenges – we’ve solved them through innovative implementations that transformed how health departments serve their communities.
Two implementations in particular showcase the depth of our team’s expertise in building transformative public health technology solutions. As CIO of Lake County Health Department in late 2020, our CEO Jefferson McMillan-Wilhoit led the development of AllVax, one of the nation’s most successful vaccine management systems. Our CRO Nebu Kolenchery, as Director of Communicable Disease Response at St. Louis County Department of Public Health in 2021, revolutionized their disease surveillance and response capabilities through innovative Salesforce implementation. These experiences provided invaluable insights into what health departments truly need: unified, scalable systems that can handle complex public health workflows while remaining accessible to all community members.
Transforming Vaccine Distribution in Lake County
Our journey from public health officials to solution builders began during COVID-19. When vaccines arrived in Lake County, Illinois in late 2020, our CEO Jefferson McMillan-Wilhoit faced the daunting task of distributing vaccines to 700,000 residents. The solution required more than just appointment scheduling – it needed to manage inventory, coordinate with state systems, and most importantly, ensure that vulnerable populations weren’t left behind.
The solution he built – AllVax – demonstrated what’s possible when deep public health expertise meets advanced technology. Within 24 hours of launch, over 40,000 residents had registered for vaccines, and within weeks, that number grew to 200,000 – nearly a third of the county’s population. The system managed over 5,000 daily appointments while maintaining equity in vaccine distribution. Most impressively, even residents in their 80s could independently schedule appointments online, proving that well-designed public health technology could serve all community members effectively. The system’s automated multilingual communications and accessibility features ensured that traditionally underserved populations had equal access to vaccines.
Revolutionizing Disease Response in St. Louis
Similarly, when our CRO Nebu Kolenchery led St. Louis County’s disease surveillance transformation as Director of Communicable Disease Response, he inherited a system buckling under unprecedented case volumes. Legacy tools couldn’t handle the scale of COVID-19 response, with case tracers unable to search crucial data components or move efficiently through contact tracing processes. The department needed a solution that could scale rapidly while maintaining the quality of care their million residents deserved.
The Salesforce solution his team implemented expanded contact tracing capacity to over 500 cases weekly, while reducing case resolution time. The solution used MuleSoft to integrate with Missouri’s EpiTrax database, automating lab data ingestion and case creation. Custom case management workflows prioritized case investigation queues by factors like household, geographic location, and age group. The system’s success led to its expansion beyond COVID-19, supporting responses to other communicable diseases including STIs, mpox, and tuberculosis. These weren’t just technology projects – they reimagined of how public health departments operate in the modern era.
Building PH360: Public Health’s New Operating System
These experiences revealed a fundamental truth: health departments need more than disconnected software tools – they need a comprehensive operating system that unifies environmental health, communicable disease response, and community health programs into a seamless platform. That’s why we’re building PH360. Through our implementations, we discovered consistent patterns: siloed systems that couldn’t communicate, staff overwhelmed by manual data entry, and leaders lacking real-time insights for decision-making.
We’re building modern public health tools not just because technology is exciting, but because every hour saved on administrative work is an hour given back to community service. Every automated process is a chance for faster response. Every connected system is an opportunity for better decisions. Every modern interface is a step toward rebuilding community trust.
The future of public health requires more than just dedication and expertise – it requires modern tools that enable rather than hinder our mission. We believe public health deserves to have nice things – not luxury items, but essential tools that match the importance of the mission. Our solutions are built by people who understand the pressure of disease investigations, the complexity of environmental health, and the reality of limited resources. We’ve sat in those seats, made those difficult decisions, and now we’re building the tools we wish we’d had.
That’s why PH360 isn’t just another software solution – it’s public health’s operating system, built by people who have led successful transformations themselves. Because when public health works better, communities thrive.