Shelton Kay is succeeding Becky Cook Kendall as executive director of the Rockford Regional Health Council. They’re pictured together on Thursday, Feb. 7, 2024, at University of Illinois College of Medicine Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — A nonprofit organization that works to identify root causes of local health issues and spur collaborative efforts to improve access to care is changing leadership after 16 years.

Shelton Kay has succeeded Becky Cook Kendall as the executive director of the Rockford Regional Health Council, a 42-year-old organization that works to improve community health through data collection and analysis, education, outreach and advocacy.

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Kay takes the role with decades of experience in working with vulnerable and underserved populations. He spent 30 years with Crusader Community Health starting in September 1993 as a case manager with its living with HIV program and health care for the homeless initiative. He retired from Crusader in June as vice president of community services.

Kay spent 15 years as Rockford Public Schools teacher before joining crusader. He was among the district’s first CAPA (Creative and Performing Arts) teachers and taught dance.

“The council is thrilled to have Shelton join our organization,” Carol Schuster, chairperson of the health council’s board, said in a statement. “His experience in region-wide, community-based collaboration will expand the council’s impact and propel its mission to improve community health through data gathering and analysis, education, and advocacy.”

Kay and the council have four key priorities for the upcoming year: improving health literacy, data gathering and analysis including the annual Healthy Community Study, improving access to primary and oral health care for low-income populations and improving individual social and emotional health.

Kay said it starts with improving health literacy, so people understand how to take charge of their family’s health. Right now, too many people look to the emergency room as their place for care, he said, and they need to help stress the importance of primary care and regular checkups.

“The reality is staying healthy should be common sense,” he said. “The unfortunate thing is some people don’t realize this is my right, this is something I should have, not something I deserve or other people get that I don’t.”

Shelton Kay is the new executive director of the Rockford Regional Health Council. He’s shown in his office on Thursday, Feb. 7, 2024, in Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)

Kay said he hopes to help improve health literacy among local youth in part by bringing medical students on visits to places like the Boys & Girls Club or local community centers. The Regional Health Council is located inside the University of Illinois College of Medicine Rockford.

“It will get them familiar with knowing who a doctor is, but also giving them the thought that, ‘hey, I could be a doctor. I could be a nurse.’ Something like this is not completely out of touch,” he said.

Kay took over the role in December, and is working with Cook Kendall over the next couple months to help with the transition.

Over the past 16 years, Cook Kendall, who was previously vice president of community investment for the United Way of Rock River Valley, has spearheaded initiatives ranging from addressing overcrowding in emergency rooms to improving oral health care for local youth.

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Cook Kendall helped bring together four health care providers with Rockford Public Schools and other community groups to implement a school-based program to provide access to dental care and preventive services. The program resulted in roughly 10,000 students receiving screenings and oral health care, Schuster said.

Cook Kendall also led the Changing Hearts initiative, which addressed health disparities in minority communities with a focus on hypertension. The program helped bring blood pressure screenings and heart health education to hundreds of participants, and helped built trust between minority communities and health care workers, Schuster said.

Those two programs “changed the landscape of health and oral health in the community,” Schuster said.

Cook Kendall also takes pride in the work the health council did to encourage the passage of the half-cent sales tax for mental health uses. That tax brings in nearly $20 million for mental health related services and programs.

“We were really conveners of that whole initiative and to see what is happening with that today is very, very exciting,” Cook Kendall said.

Cook Kendall said Kay will carry on a high-level of passion for public health and continue the organization’s legacy of reaching people in the community.

“One thing that I really learned through this whole journey is that it’s all about us together, and it’s us taking charge of our health,” she said.

Honoring Becky Cook Kendall

Becky Cook Kendall led the Rockford Regional Health Council as its executive director for 16 years. She’s pictured Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024, in her former office at the University of Illinois College of Medicine Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)

What: A celebration to honor Becky Cook Kendall for her years of leadership of the Rockford Regional Health Council.

When: 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, March 22

Where: University of Illinois College of Medicine Rockford, 1601 Parkview Ave., Rockford

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas