Be the Change: Ann Dickman – Paving The Way To Public Health In Butte County

Ann Dickman and her husband, Mark, have three children and seven grandchildren, each of whom is represented by a charm on Ann’s favorite necklace. “I am a doting grandma,” she admits with a laugh. “I adore them.” Like other grandmothers, Ann cares deeply about the health and wellness of her family. Debbie Henley, a longtime friend and former coworker of Ann’s, says Ann’s “over-the-top” love for her family “extends from her love for people, children, and the community, and her desire to have healthy, active women and children.”

For the last 21 years, Ann Dickman has worked at the Butte County Department of Health, and since 2007 she has served as Maternal Child Adolescent Health Director, a position Debbie Henley previously held. A graduate of Chico State University’s nursing program with multiple years of general and neonatal nursing, Ann has always had a passion for health, but an unexpected job with Yolo County Public Health Department opened a whole new world to her in 1987. “I was older and more mature at that point, so I understood that my patient wasn’t at bedside, but rather my patient was the community,” says Ann. “As a public nurse, my job was, and is, to meet with people, join collaboratives, understand community needs and create ways to answer those needs.”

As a prime example of responding to community needs, while working on a grant for injury prevention, Ann Dickman learned that unintentional injuries (car accidents, falls, drowning, etc.) were the leading cause of death in Butte County for children over age one. Anna Bauer, Ann’s longtime colleague at First 5 Butte, describes Ann as someone who “understands research. She’s always on the cutting edge, and she shares that information.” True to form, Ann researched preventable injuries and decided to promote car seat safety. She became a certified Child Passenger Safety Technician and found funding to help families obtain appropriate car seats. This activism also led Ann to initiate pedestrian and bike safety, focusing on fun school outreaches to educate children.

More recently, Ann has developed a passion for maternal mental health, particularly through a large collaborative called Mother Strong, which helps educate doctors and the community about perinatal mood and anxiety disorder. “It doesn’t always manifest as depression,” says Ann. “Sometimes it looks like panic attacks or anxiety, and it affects one in five pregnant women and one in seven new moms.” Looking back, Ann realizes she struggled with maternal anxiety when her children were born. “No mom should have to feel that,” she says. Debbie identifies Ann as a trailblazer in the community for “making resources accessible to
women and normalizing postpartum depression so that women aren’t hesitant to look for help. She has really brought the maternal community together.”

The seemingly infinite health issues a community faces can be overwhelming. Ann prioritizes her time and resources by realizing that not everything can happen at once. “You run down some paths, and you stroll down others,” she says, “but you don’t stop trying.” She emphasizes working collaboratively instead of trying to address all the challenges alone. “Every five years we do a needs assessment,” she says, “so I gather bright and amazing people, and we go through the data. We identify where the data is not good, and then we start going down that trail.” When she knows others are working in a certain area, Ann focuses on other needs.

Ann values community in her personal life, too. She and her husband enjoy monthly dinners and Bible studies with friends, hiking and biking together and floating down the Sacramento River in a big flotilla of loved ones. Ann and Mark will celebrate their 40th anniversary in July, and Ann credits their faith with keeping their marriage strong.

In reflecting over her career, Ann says she has been encouraged and inspired by countless people along the way. “Gather people around you. Don’t do it alone.” People like Debbie and Anna attest to the fact that Ann has followed this advice throughout the years. Anna calls Ann consistent, dependable, loyal and “a unique, important asset in our community.” Debbie agrees, “I am honored and blessed to call her my friend.”