It is my distinct pleasure to be joining Beach Cities Health District (BCHD) as the Chief Executive Officer. Thanks to 12 years of outstanding leadership and innovation from Susan Burden, who retired in October, I’m fortunate enough to be inheriting a high-performing organization with a sterling reputation, a talented staff and volunteer network, and a clear purpose: to create a healthy beach community for the residents of Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach.

As the former City Manager of Hermosa Beach, I’ve had the opportunity to work closely with BCHD throughout the years on a variety of health initiatives and programs, including the Blue Zones Project, public smoke-free ordinances and community mindfulness workshops. Community programs like these made a profound impact on the health of residents in recent years – namely a 17 percent decrease in smoking, a 9 percent drop in significant daily stress and the top community well-being score in the nation for 2015.

But we’ve only just begun.

BCHD’s publicly-elected Board of Directors recently announced our strategic health priorities for the next three years. Key areas of focus across each major lifespan include:

• Curbing above-average rates of drug and alcohol use by Beach Cities teens, especially high school students.
• Helping adults achieve the recommended amount of daily physical activity by making it easier and safer to walk and bike throughout the community.
• Providing older adults with evidence-based programs and services — like Memory Club and LiveWell, DieWell — to ensure they age gracefully and independently for as long as possible.

These are just a few of the many community health initiatives ahead for BCHD. The entire list of health priorities is posted on bchd.org.

The health of the Beach Cities begins with the local partners, volunteers and leaders who make our community such a great place to live, work, learn and play – and I’m honored to support each of you as CEO of Beach Cities Health District.

In health,

Tom Bakaly
Chief Executive Officer
Beach Cities Health District