Flint awards highest civic honor to MSU’s Mona Hanna
A key to the city of Flint was presented to Mona Hanna during a special ceremony at Flint City Hall on July 30. This represents one of Flint’s highest civic honors and is reserved for individuals whose leadership and service leave a lasting impact. Hanna serves as associate dean of public health at the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine and director and founder of Rx Kids, the nation’s first community-wide maternal and infant cash assistance program.
“Dr. Mona has dedicated her career to championing the health of children and families,” said Jennifer Johnson, chair of the Charles Stewart Mott Department of Public Health at the MSU College of Human Medicine. “Her ability to enact solutions for underlying factors that profoundly affect health, such as clean water and economic security, is extraordinary. Dr. Mona has brought widespread recognition to our community while transforming lives locally and nationally.”
As a pediatrician, Hanna gained national recognition for her critical role in uncovering the Flint water crisis. She continues to spearhead long-term recovery efforts and champion health equity.
Highlights of her impactful work in the community include:
- Exposing the water crisis: Hanna uncovered the elevated blood lead levels in Flint’s children and brought international attention to the environmental disaster.
- Establishing the Flint Registry: She helped launch and lead the Flint Registry to connect impacted individuals with critical resources, medical care and ongoing support for local recovery efforts. To date, the program has enrolled more than 22,000 members and facilitated over 35,000 referrals to essential community services.
- Strengthening public policy: Hanna testified before Congress multiple times to strengthen federal environmental regulations and increase investments in prevention, which catalyzed the first major national updates to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Lead and Copper Rule and billions of dollars to replace lead pipes.
- Improving maternal and infant health: She launched Rx Kids, which originated in Flint and now serves 62 Michigan communities and reaches more than 14,000 families. Rx Kids delivers measurable improvements in family financial stability, maternal and infant health, and community well-being.
Hanna was previously named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World and one of USA Today’s Women of the Century; this latest honor, being granted the key to the city of Flint, celebrates her ongoing dedication to reshaping the trajectory of pediatric public health and medicine in Flint and beyond.