Full Biography – Jean Marie Malecki, MD, MPH, FACPM

A South Florida Native Dr. Malecki’s training began at Fairfield University in Connecticut where she obtained a Bachelor of Science Degree with pre-medical honors.  Her Medical Degree is from New York Medical College where she graduated with three honors including membership in the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society, Cor Et Manus Service Society and American Women’s Citation for Scholastic Achievement in Medicine. Upon completion of her first year of medical school she was privileged to become an assistant instructor in Anatomy and Physiology for incoming freshman. She also received her first grant through the National Institutes of Mental Health to study “Rape and Mental Health in the Emergency Room Setting”. She also holds a Master of Public Health Degree from the University of Miami.  Dr. Malecki is Board Certified in General Preventive Medicine and Public Health, is a Fellow of the American Board of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, and an alumnus of the Public Health Leadership Institute. She re-instated a residency training program in General Preventive Medicine and Public Health and served as director of this nationally recognized training program

from 1987 until 2010. She relocated to Arizona at that time. During this time she held academic positions of Full Professorships, adjunct/training status at three prestigious medical schools and was the Founding Chairwoman for the Department of Preventive Medicine at Nova Southeastern College of Osteopathic Medicine.

For any community to grow healthy it must first look at its children.  Dr. Malecki did just that in the mid 1990’s when she formed the maternal child health alliance and became its first president.  It was from this vision that Healthy Start was born. Nurses began providing in home counseling to pregnant women and would continue to follow them after birth to assure all children received the best start to good health. This is a universal program regardless of the ability to pay. Today, this alliance has forged partnerships with the Children’s Services Council and Healthy Mothers/Healthy Babies to provide $30 million in services annually to the newborns and their mothers in Palm Beach County. Our infant mortality rate is now one of the lowest in the Country.

As new and emerging diseases threatened the people of the county, Dr. Malecki diagnosed one of the first children with AIDS while working as a clinician, this was in 1982.  Having seen the need first hand she helped form the Comprehensive AIDS Program, a 501c3, initially started with one of the first Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Grants for this disease. This served over 7,000 People Living with HIV/AIDS in the county by providing clinical care, dental care, prescription drugs, transportation, housing assistance, education and spiritual counseling.

The Palm Beach County Health Department also offered primary care clinics and specialty clinics dedicated to people with Tuberculosis, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. The Department served over 70,000 unduplicated clients. Its total budget was over $100 million with an outstanding and culturally diverse staff of over 1,000. It now has four Federally Qualified Health Centers achieved through a competitive federal granting process and a special grant just to serve the Homeless. There were numerous contracts with the private and not for profit sectors that provide superior specialty services.  Another fight initiated under Dr. Malecki was against breast cancer.  She walked even before the Susan G. Komen Foundation Race for the Cure began drawing thousands and pushed to get the “Hope Van” funded and operational so all women could receive a mammogram and early detection.

The voters of Palm Beach County also had a vision for health and created the Health Care District of Palm Beach County to guarantee funding for health care and trauma services. Dr. Malecki was appointed to the Board of Directors where she served for over 19 years. She helped initiate the County-Wide Trauma System, including Trauma Hawk; Registered Nurses in every school; two trauma centers; school mental health counseling; low and no cost insurance programs and a new public hospital in Belle Glade.  With a funding source provided through the District’s insurance programs, Dr. Malecki was able to expand the primary care clinics within the Health Department to seven.  A total of four new clinic buildings, an administrative complex, a hospital and a county nursing home were built; three other clinic sites were renovated. Through the generosity of the Kiwanis Club of Palm Beach County, three immunization vans were dedicated to the department with the goal of helping to achieve a 100% immunization status for our children.

 As past president of the Palm Beach County Medical Society, her strong ties to organized medicine fostered the strong public-private linkage needed to create a dynamic and integrated health care delivery system with a focus on prevention. The Society was opened to all specialties, including Osteopathic Physicians and welcomed medical students, residents and fellows. It became an “inclusive society” with a focus on the community.

Many of the programs instituted to serve the people of the county are now used as models for local public health systems throughout the country. These include the Hospital Emergency Response Coalition (HERC) formed following the terrorist attacks to unify the private hospitals into one group to provide surveillance and coordinated care in the event of a disaster.  By her invitation PACE EH, (Protocol for Assessing Community Excellence in Environmental Health) was formed to provide environmental support to communities in need of better water, air and land systems that can affect a person’s health. She has also created the Community Health Division to forge public/private partnerships utilizing the MAPP (Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships) model that continually analyzes the health needs of a community and targets where efforts should be placed.  One such example is the comprehensive obesity program where numerous public, private, educational and governmental partners have been set on a unified goal of reversing the obesity trend and its adverse health effects.

Much of this has been accomplished through Dr. Malecki’s foresight in making the Palm Beach County Health Department an Academic Health Department that is constantly learning, teaching, and creating innovative ways to better serve the public’s health.  Palm Beach County has the only Preventive Medicine/Public Health Residency program located within a health department to train doctors.  The residency program, started by Dr. Carl Brumback over 50 years ago, has graduated close to 100 Public Health Doctors. Under Dr. Malecki the program now has relationships with Nova Southeastern University School of Osteopathic Medicine, University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine and Florida Atlantic University School of Medicine.  The Health Department also has academic associations with nursing schools, dental schools, dietician/ nutritionist internship programs, and the University Of South Florida School Of Public Health. She was also recognized in 2008 by the American Association of Public Health Physicians for creating an academically based teaching health department. Dr. Malecki has authored numerous publications in peer reviewed journals and has written and fostered medical research throughout her career.

Dr. Malecki received international attention for her assistance in the diagnosis and Public Health Intervention of the first case of intentional Anthrax. She successfully led the investigation for the State of Florida. The vision and strong leadership demonstrated by Dr. Malecki brought local, national and international attention, recognition and awards to the Palm Beach County Health Department, Florida Department of Health and the State of Florida.  She has been identified as “Changing the Face of Medicine” and a Local Legend by the National Library of Medicine, she has been named one of the top 25 Faces of Public Health by the American Public Health Association, she has been honored as a Woman of Distinction by the Women’s Chamber of Commerce and has received a Presidential Citation for her leadership in curtailing the risk from bioterrorism during the Anthrax attack in 2001. Numerous books and articles have been written about this bioterrorism event. ANTHRAX: The Investigation of a Deadly Outbreak is housed in The National Library of Medicine of Congress.

 With her recent move to Northern Arizona in 2009 and work at Tuba City Regional Health Care Corporation she developed three models for “Community Health Integration” within the hospital setting with an emphasis on merging Traditional Native Healing Practices and Allopathic/Osteopathic Medicine. These proposals have been turned over to the hospital administrative staff for consideration. She is the co-founder of “The Compassion Project” with the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences of Northern Arizona University. This Project, succeeded on numerous fronts: A National Symposium with experts in the field was a huge success in October, 2012; a “Focus on Interactive Compassion Curriculum; State of the Art Research; and Community Involvement”. Grassroots efforts are underway to merge academics with local community programs and their evaluation. A second successful conference took place on March 28, 2014 addressing compassion-inspired work with our partners and community. The 2015 conference expanded to included international partners, stressing the mission of compassion globally. She continues to teach on topics of Health Policy, Preventive Medicine, Integrative Medicine and Compassion. She has worked with several local boards, including involvement with The Arizona/Flagstaff Community Foundation and the Museum of Northern Arizona. She has served on the Advancement Council for the Social and Behavioral Sciences College of Northern Arizona University and was a community advisor for Philosophy in the Publics Interest. As a consultant for the NARBHA (Northern Arizona Behavioral Health Authority) Institute, she provided public health guidance during the merger of primary health care with mental health /behavioral health services in Northern Arizona. She has continued consulting with the State of Florida and in 2020 she was providing consultation on the Covid Pandemic. Working with the Palm Beach County School Board she provided expert advice on the management of schools, teachers, students and parental involvement during this pandemic.

Although universally recognized as a leader and innovator, she never failed to give credit to her over 1,000 employees as vital members of her TEAM. She encouraged their individual involvement within the organization. She was an active participant in employee recognitions, organizational plays, skits, employee and spouse related galas, picnics and holiday parties.

Today she and her husband have created a center for healing: A CALL TO BE LOVE, LLC. This Center provides integrative healing for harmony, wellbeing and balance.

*Her leisure pursuits include appreciating the arts, especially music, including singing; reading fiction and nonfiction; meditation, writing, travel, exploring nature’s beauty and experiencing the wonder of love!