Agency salutes city of Payson and nurse

PROVO — Utah County health officials honored two "friends" Tuesday.

Family nurse practitioner and certified nurse midwife Susan Chasson and the city of Payson were honored winners of the 2006 Friends of Public Health awards by the Utah County Health Department.

Each year during Public Health Week in Utah County, the health department honors an individual and an agency for contributions to public health in the county, said Joseph K. Miner, executive director of the health department.

Chasson has been a lifetime advocate for the health of women and children. She helped to establish the Friends of the Children's Justice Center and has served as its president for the past 14 years.

At the center, Chasson established the county's first pediatric sexual-abuse examination service. She also founded the Utah Coalition Against Sexual Assault.

Payson has been providing space and equipment for the health department's weekly evening immunization clinic for more that 23 years, Miner said.