Holmes County Health District for Outlook

  • By Denice Rovira Hazlett
  • January 18, 2012
  • 351
                        
Moving to a new home often causes us to reevaluate what we own, what we need, and what we can do without. It can also give us some insight into who we are, who we used to be, and who we hope to be in the future. For the Holmes County Health District (HCHD), the move of their office building from their former location next to Joel Pomerene Hospital to the third floor of the Health and Human Services building on Grant Street afforded them the opportunity toreorganize thirty years' worth of belongings while reevaluating their goals for serving Holmes County. "That move was really a big deal for us," said Dr. D.J. McFadden, health commissioner of Holmes County. "It was a helpful process. Plus, it will enable us to reduce our administrative and upkeep costs." The move came about after the HCHD had been exploring ways to increase space to better serve the community. "We wanted to grow and increase staff, but we weren't easily able to do it in that space. The building was older and was configured in a way that we couldn't easily do all that we needed to achieve." McFadden said the Pomerene building didn't offer adequare storage and had odd-sized rooms that couldn't be used efficiently. After exploring several options, the HCHD received word that the county needed to rent the top floor of the Job and Family Services building, which they made available to the HCHD. As a result, office operations for the HCHD moved to Grant Street, renamed the Health and Human Services Building, while the clinic will continue operating in the Pomerene building for the forseeable future. While it might seem that operating two locations would increase costs, McFadden said that's not the case. "We won't be shouldering the upkeep of the Pomerene building alone," said McFadden, "and we'll also share upkeep expenses with Job and Family Services for our office location." Another major change in 2011 was HCHD's closing of their hospice operations, which, along with HCHD's hospice staff, were transfered to Hospice and Pallative Care of Greater Wayne County (HPC), a private non-profit that will continue to serve the Holmes County community's hospice care needs. "We were seeing our numbers decline," McFadden explained, "and as we were doing an analysis, we realized that it would take considerable outlays to meet some of the newer requirements that were coming down the pike." It wasn't an easy decision, said McFadden, but it was the right one. "Anytime you close down a program, it can be difficult. In the end, it's going to be positive, and quality care will continue to be given by HPC, a large organization that has a better ability to serve the community." With the changes 2011 brought, HCHD can now fully focus on serving the residents of Holmes County in 2012, with services like immunization, breastfeeding support and carseat classes, as well as inspections of food service, retail food, swimming pools, RV parks and more. Beginning this year, HCHD will provide a new payment option of accepting credit cards, as the auditor, treasurer and other county offices have recently done. McFadden said he also plans to offer a state-of-the-county's health report with open meeting where health concerns of the county can be shared with the community. Those health concerns for 2012, according to Dr. McFadden, include current cases of Pertussis, or whooping cough, and a potential increase in mosquito-borne illnesses, such as La Crosse encephalitis. There were five cases of La Crosse in 2010, and an increase in viral meningitis in 2011, which McFadden said could have included undiagnosed cases of mosquito-borne illnesses as well. "Given this wet winter and moving into a wet spring, we have a potential for a large number of mosquitoes again," said McFadden. He encouraged residents to prepare for an increased mosquito population by taking steps to reduce the insects' breeding areas. "Because mosquito populations grow in puddles of water, we want to encourage people to check their trees," McFadden said. "Close up knot holes, eliminate branches that form a "V" that holds water. Spraying around wooded areas is important, as well as using proper insect repellant." As 2011 laid the groundwork for personal health, McFadden believes the county will see a community-wide approach to more physical activity, healthier lifestyles and proper nutrition. He hopes this will bring about, for all of the citizens of Holmes County, a healthier today, and a better tomorrow.


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