What in the Health?!

Immunizations Work

2011-04-22T12:43:00.001-04:00

National Infant Immunization Week, April 23 – 30, celebrates the success of childhood vaccinations and promotes on time infant immunization.
Routine childhood immunizations save 42,000 lives, prevent 20 million cases of disease, and save $13.6 billion in medical costs.

Vaccines work so well that many people begin to question the benefits of vaccinating their children. The diseases that vaccines prevent are reduced to the point that many parents do not remember when these preventable diseases cost the lives and caused permanent disabilities for thousands of children each year.

Unfortunately, when children are not vaccinated they are at risk for contracting these vaccine preventable diseases, and the herd immunity gained by having all children vaccinated is reduced.

We have seen outbreaks of measles in unvaccinated populations, widespread whooping cough outbreaks, and other preventable disease that spread among unvaccinated populations.

While numerous studies have found no relationship between autism and vaccinations, and the author if the study that started that rumor has been discredited, some parents still wrongly think that autism and vaccinations are linked.

We adults benefited from vaccines when we were children, we need to offer the same benefits to our children.

Health Care Reform School

2010-09-24T12:33:00.001-04:00

There were all kinds of claims made when Health Care Reform (The Affordable Care Act) was signed into law in March of 2010. The world did not end, in fact, very little changed until now. Some of the reforms included into the bill went into effect on September 23, 2010:

Preventive Health Services: Requires that new policies must cover evidence-based preventive services, including screenings and vaccinations, with no copays or deductibles.
Maintenance of Coverage When People Get Sick: Prevents insurance companies from withdrawing coverage when a person gets sick as a way of avoiding covering the costs of enrollees’ health care needs.
No Lifetime Limits on Insurance Coverage: Prohibits insurers from imposing lifetime limits on benefits.
Regulation of Annual Limits on Insurance Coverage: Tightly regulates plans’ use of annual limits to ensure access to needed care in all group plans and all new individual plans.
Coverage for Young Adults: Requires health plans that provide coverage for children to continue to make that coverage available until the child turns 26 years of age. The requirement applies to all plans in the individual market, new employer plans, and existing employer plans – unless the adult child has an offer of coverage through his or her employer.
Appeals Process for a Denial of Coverage: Requires new plans to implement an effective internal and external appeals process for coverage determinations and claims.

These changes will have real impacts on peoples' lives. Like my son who is still in college, but would have lost insurance under my family health plan when he turns 22 this fall, or the organ transplant patient who exceeded the lifetime coverage limit of their insurance plan, or the lives that can be saved when important health screenings like mamograms, are covered without any co-pays.

If health care reform is like high school, we are only in our freshman year; things are exciting, but a little scary, we are making real progress, but we know there is still a lot of work to do before we graduate in 2014. My advice? Stay in school and participate in activities like health screenings, and wellness programs. Maybe you will get voted "Most likely to live a long and healthy life"!

Health Care Reform Info

Rain + Warm = Mosquitoes

2010-06-09T16:41:00.000-04:00

The recent rains and the warm weather has led to an early mosquito season in some parts of the county. We have started spraying for mosquitoes and we are continuing to treat standing water to prevent mosquito eggs from reaching adulthood.

Now is the time to take precautions to protect yourself and your family from mosquito-borne illnesses such as West Nile virus (WNV).

The best way to fight mosquitoes is to eliminate breeding sites before the population gets out of control.

Empty bird baths, kid's pools, buckets, and other containers of standing water at least once per week.

Keep gutters and downspouts cleaned out.

Properly dispose of old tires and other trash that holds water.

Drain low lying areas if possible and keep ditches and tiles cleaned out.

To avoid possible infection from mosquito bites:

Avoid outdoor activities between dusk and dawn when mosquitoes are most active.

If you must be outdoors, be sure to wear long pants, long sleeve shirts, shoes and socks. Light colors are least attractive to mosquitoes.

Use insect repellent containing DEET, picaridin or lemon eucalyptus oil and follow the label directions; generally a concentration of 30 percent DEET for adults and 10 percent or less for children.

Other mosquito-transmitted diseases in Ohio include Eastern Equine encephalitis, La Crosse encephalitis and St. Louis encephalitis. People who have symptoms – including high fever, headache, muscle aches, vomiting and loss of appetite- two to 15 days after a mosquito bite should see their doctor and tell him or her about the mosquito bite.

For more information, contact the Licking County Health Department at (740) 349-6535 or visit www.lickingcohealth.org.

Just Rip it Off

2009-06-30T08:45:00.000-04:00

State budget cuts are impacting local public health programs. The legislature and the governor have been unable to meet the July 1 deadline for passing a new two-year budget. They are giving themselves an extension by passing a one-week interim plan, setting funding levels at 30 percent less than what agencies are currently getting.

These budget problems are not new, we have been hearing various proposed cuts in grant and state funded programs for months now. We have had to give layoff notices to all four of our Help Me Grow (HMG) service coordinators, a program serving low income families with children birth to three. Originally, we were told that a 45% funding cut was in the house version of the state budget, then three weeks ago, the senate version of the budget was released with no HMG funding for at-risk children.

The HMG grant is supposed to start the new funding year on July 1st, but we still don’t know if there will be any funding available.

The Head Lice program which helps families treat their children for head lice, and instructs them on proper steps to eliminate lice from the home and prevent recurrences, will end on June 30th due to the reallocation of the funding by the governor.

We have applied for a new grant funded program, which is supposed to start July 1st, but we have not received any notification from the state about if we are getting the grant, or what level of funding would be available. By the time we get notified, fill the positions, and get up and running we will have lost at least a month of service delivery.

Almost all funds that come from the state general fund, or federal funds that can be diverted by the state, are being reduced. Cuts of over $400,000 for the next 12 months are likely.

The legislature needs to take a little old school health advice, “It’s better to just rip the Band-Aid off instead of pulling it off slowly. Either way is painful, but at least you get it over quickly.” Make the hard decisions now, and let’s move forward.

Food Safety

2008-07-11T11:17:00.003-04:00

Food borne diseases have made the news again lately. It's good that people hear the standard food safety messages:

Cook meat to the proper temperature
Wash your hands before preparing food, after handling raw meat, and before you eat.
Avoid cross contamination of ready to eat food with bacteria from raw meat, this means using a clean plate to bring the cooked burgers in from the grill, don't cut up your tomatoes on the same counter or cutting board you used for meat, unless you wash and sanitize the surfaces first.
Practice time and temperature control: keep cold food cold and hot food hot, don't leave food out at room temperature for more than 2 hours.
When in doubt, throw it out.

But the message should educate, not scare people.

A friend went to a barbecue where the hamburger meat was from Kroger's and they had tomatoes for the sandwiches. He joked that he was having a death burger. Unlike many people he knew that in public health we always assume that meat is contaminated with some type of bacteria or virus, and that the required cooking temperatures will kill the organisms.

Chicken and eggs are known for Salmonella, so cook them to at least 165 degrees, Hamburgers for E. Coli, cook to 155 degrees, Pork for Trichinosis, cook to 140 degrees, other meats cook to 140 degrees.

Vegetable and fruits that do not get cooked can be contaminated from soil, and water, as well as human, or animal contact. Wash these thoroughly before eating them. Refrigerate melons after they are cut up.

This is a great time of year to get fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as local meats and cheeses, at our farmer's markets. Granville, Newark, and Pataskala all host weekly markets. Buy farm fresh foods, and cook them properly...maybe that should be the message in the news.

When was the last time you had no health insurance?

2008-04-03T15:30:00.002-04:00

The 2007 Ohio Family Health Survey found that 30% of Ohioans 18-64 years old reported being uninsured for some period during the 12 months before the survey was conducted. On average 17.7% of Ohioans age 18-64 were uninsured during 2007. This is an increase of approximately 209,000 new uninsured since 2004 when the rate was 15%.

Presidential candidates and state and federal lawmakers are all trying to find a fix to the patchwork of health insurance coverage that leaves an estimated 47 million people in the U.S. without coverage.

Many other countries have national plans, including Britain, France and Canada, and while the US spends more per person on health care, we are not getting better care. However, none of the major party presidential candidates are calling for a national health plan.

A recent survey of over 2,000 doctors shows that 59 percent of U.S. doctors now favor switching to a national health care plan and 32 percent oppose the idea.

This is a significant shift from the 2002 survey found that 49 percent of physicians supported national health insurance and 40 percent opposed it.

As Senator Bill Frist put it in a Jan. 20, 2005 New England Journal of Medicine article: “All Americans deserve the security of lifelong, affordable access to high quality health care.”

There are a lot of special interest groups who are trying to make sure that they hang on to their profits, and a lot of people who are afraid of change. Unfortunately these people usually have more influence on lawmakers than the unemployed, low wage earners, independent contractors, and others that cannot afford health insurance under the current system.

Most Americans would not spend a bunch of money trying to fix a broken computer; they know that they would just end up with an expensive, outdated, system anyway, so they would just go out and buy a new one. I say it’s time to take the same approach to our health insurance system. Nobody should be happy with a system that doesn’t work 17% of the time.

This isn't the free perscription drug coverage I'd hoped for.

2008-03-16T22:30:00.009-04:00

What’s new? Well how about the recent stories about prescription drugs in the drinking water supplies of some cities?
The five-month AP investigation tested the drinking water in 62 major metropolitan areas supplying water to 41 million Americans. Testing showed 24 of the large metro areas contained traces of pharmaceuticals. Tiny amounts of pharmaceuticals for birth control, mood stabilizers, anti-convulsants, heart medicine, painkillers, antibiotics and anti-seizure medications were discovered by tests.
This isn’t really new. In 2002, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) released the first study of pharmaceuticals, hormones, and other organic wastewater-related chemicals in streams across the nation. Most sites were downstream of urban and farming areas where wastewater is known or suspected to enter streams. The 2002 study showed that pharmaceuticals, hormones, and other organic wastewater-related chemicals had been detected at very low concentrations in streams across the U.S. Many of the chemicals examined (81 of 95) do not have drinking-water standards or health advisories. Measured concentrations of compounds that do have standards or criteria rarely exceeded any of them. Among the chemicals detected were: human and veterinary drugs (including antibiotics), natural and synthetic hormones, detergents, plasticizers, insecticides, and fire retardants.
Chemicals of all kinds enter our surface and ground water through wastewater treatment systems, industry, and agriculture. Domestic sewage treatment plants are not equipped to remove the trace amounts of chemicals and pharmaceuticals that are flushed down our drains. Sewage sludge from treatment plants, and manure from livestock operations, is spread onto farm fields across the country. The antibiotics and other drugs found in these wastes, and fertilizers and pesticides applied to fields and yards, can find their way into our ground and surface water.
The small amounts of pharmaceuticals identified in drinking water may be so small that they are not a health risk. These studies will probably spur improvement in water and wastewater treatment. My hope is that they also spur increased environmental awareness and promote efforts to keep these chemicals out of the environment in the first place.

Moving Forward

2008-02-17T22:01:00.002-05:00

The merged health department kicked off with a reception on February 1st attended by local elected officials and others. Director of the Ohio Department of Health, Dr. Alvin Jackson, attended and gave short speech citing the benefits of the merger and congratulating those who worked to make it happen.
In the first two weeks of the combined department, we are working to integrate staff. We’ve moved the birth and death records from both departments together and moved some clerical staff to the front office. We’ve begun moving the environmental health staff one area.
The computer networks have been joined and most of the city data has been migrated over.
The cleaning contact for the agency that the county commissioners had cleaning the rest of the building had to be amended to have them clean the back wing. They started cleaning that area on the 15th.
Weekly divisional staff meetings have started for Environmental Health, Clerical, and Nursing.
I am still learning more about how the city’s programs were run, and what the staff does. Daily logs, which the county nurses and sanitarians have used for years, will be new to the former city workers. These logs allow us to get a clear picture of what the employees spend their time doing, and make it possible for us to make better decisions about service delivery and will allow us to do accurate cost analysis for our programs.

Counting Down

2008-01-26T17:37:00.000-05:00

The merger is just four more working days away. If those days are anything like the last week was, we will be working our butts off to get ready.
Even after nearly four years of work to get to this point, we continue to be surprised by things we hadn't thought about. Like the books say, "don't sweat the little things". Lots of little problems are still just little problems. The big thing is that we are moving forward, working as a team to reach our goal.
Four more days - that is worth savoring. So many people said ,"it will never happen" but we didn't give up, we didn't go away, and we didn't push. Perceptions take time to change, and eventually more people began to believe, "it might happen", and finally, "it will happen."
I've always believed that the merger would happen, I just wasn't sure when it would happen. Now we all know when...four more days!

Newark Council Approves Merger

2008-01-09T23:07:00.001-05:00

The Newark City Council voted 9-1 in favor of joining the Licking County, Heath City, and Pataskala City health districts in the formation of a combined general health district. The merger will final become a reality after nearly 60 years of on and off attempts that have all fallen short. The real work begins now, joining the employees into a cohesive, integrated, unit. I am sure that the Newark Health Dept. and Licking County Health Dept. staff will come together with only minor growing pains.
Thanks to all the people who have helped obtain this historic opportunity to improve public health services in Licking County.

District Advisory Council Approves Merger!

2008-01-07T23:05:00.000-05:00

On Saturday January 5th, the Licking County General Health District Advisory Council voted unanimously to approve the contract for the union of the Licking County, Heath, Pataskala, and Newark City Health Districts. It was remarkable that nearly 30 representatives from the townships, villages, cities, and county commissioners, all agreed in the spirit of intergovenmental cooperation, to support the merger.
Newark City Council is to vote on January 8th. I'll report back then.

Merger Update

2007-12-19T09:40:00.000-05:00

Newark City Council met on December 17th and had their first reading of the merger agreement. I think that the majority of the council members are supportive. The District Advisory Council has set a special meeting for January 5th to vote on the merger, and Newark Council will vote on January 8th. That leaves only Pataskala and Heath to ratify the new contract.
I'm looking forward to getting trhough with this approval process so that I can start communicating with all the employees and work on building a cohesive team.

Do You See What I See?

2007-12-13T17:47:00.000-05:00

We used to boat on Lake Erie; to navigate safely to distant destinations you need to keep one eye focused on horizon looking for a buoy or other marker in distance and the other watching for submerged hazards and other boats while checking your compass often to prevent getting off course. For the past three and a half years I’ve been navigating toward the possible merger of the Newark City and Licking County Health Departments. I can see light from the marina ahead; next Monday a merger agreement will finally go before the Newark City Council for their consideration.
Almost everyone who has looked into the merger has reached the same conclusion; it is a good public health decision. The devil is in the details, especially when politics, jobs, turf, money, and change are involved. That is why it has taken two study committees, and months of negotiations to finally get to where we are now.
The benefits are clear. Combining the health departments will streamline emergency response and disease control efforts. Reducing staff time wasted on duplicate activities; from payroll and general administration, to disease case reporting and tracking, will free up staff time to expand or improve services. Strategic planning and quality assurance programs established in the county will be extended to the city programs. Customer service will improve because we get calls and walk-in customers every day that we have to tell that they have the wrong health department, we then pass them over to the city department. Most of the residents don’t know that there are two health departments in Licking County.
Over the years we have seen that increased technical expertise is expected to meet state and federal program requirements. A small department usually lacks the staff to allow specialization and it is hard to keep up with changes in technology and regulations. It is unrealistic to expect an employee to be an expert in half a dozen program areas. Adding the city employees to the county health department will permit staff to specialize and become better trained to do their jobs.
Looking back, merging the health departments has been attempted numerous times over the past 60 years. Every time, either the politics couldn’t be overcome, or the employees fear of losing their jobs got in the way. This time the jobs are all protected, with the exception of the city health commissioner and the environmental health director, who have been offered early retirement incentives. The politics are more difficult, because you can’t please everyone, but I believe that we have an agreement that protects both the county and the city’s interests, and more importantly is in the best interest of the citizens of the entire community.
I believe that our elected officials will see the big picture – a combined department will be better equipped to prevent disease, protect the environment, and promote healthy lifestyles for all of Licking County. Our shared vision is “Healthy People, Living in Healthy Communities.” I hope that our vision will overcome political division.
We’ll see:)

Making a Difference

2007-12-04T10:32:00.001-05:00

This past weekend I went to a "Christmas to Cure Cancer" event in Dublin. It was a fun evening of dinner, live and silent auctions, live music, and funds were raised to support the James Cancer Center, the Stephanie Spielman Fund for Breast Cancer Research, and The Heather Pick Spirit Fund - Benefiting The Columbus Cancer Clinic. This event and the music CDs that they have sold have raised over $500,000 since 2002. It is a great example of what a few dedicated people can do to make a difference.

The Licking County Health Department and our non-profit partner, the Public Health Partnership of Licking County, began receiving grant funds from the Susan G. Komen Foundation in 2006. The S.A.S.S. – Services and Social Support for Breast Cancer program was formed to increase breast cancer awareness and provide needed support, both financial and emotional, to breast cancer patients and survivors.

In 2006 we hosted our first "Think Pink" breast cancer awareness event and fundraiser. In 2007 the event grew to 350 attendees with over one hundred auction items, donations, and sponsorships raising over $21,000 for breast cancer programming in Licking County. Funds are being used to supplement the Komen Grant, to provide additional support for breast cancer patients, and to provide free breast cancer screenings.

There are many ways to give back to your community; your time, your talents, your resources, but we all have something to offer. There is no better time of the year than this to be reminded that giving does not stop on December 25^th.

To order a Christmas to Cure Cancer CD or Heather Pick's "Circle of Support" CD visit http://www.achristmastocurecancer.org/, all proceeds go to cancer programs. You'll be glad you did!

My First Blog

2007-11-29T12:33:00.001-05:00

It seems like there is always another health story, scare, or crisis in the news. In the past few years we have dealt with Anthrax in the mail, West Nile Virus from mosquitoes, Smallpox as a possible bio-weapon, SARS brought over from China, MonkeyPox, Bird Flu, and most recently MRSA.
All of these require the public health community to respond, either through planning and crisis communication, or responding to actual or suspected cases.
I have often issued press releases and fielded calls from the media and concerned citizens about these big news stories. This blog is not meant to replace those communications, but I hope it will provide a forum for discussing the little things that don't make the news, or to give more frequent updates about what is going on here at the Health Department.
This is new to me, so we'll see how it goes. If you have comments, or suggestions, please let me know.