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About The Coquille Valley sentinel. (Coquille, Coos County, Or.) 1921-2003 | View Entire Issue (June 6, 1996)
~21~ Coos County Health Department SEATED: (left to right) Leslyn Danielson, Pam Robison, Gloria Marone, Carlee Jensen, Donna Kiehl, Lisa Hermann, Mary Claiborne. Standing: Bonnie Acosta, Linda Manous, Donna Martz, Doreen Carson, Becky Voth, Sylvia Mangan, Linda Holbrook, Frances Smith, Beverly Ramey, Elizabeth Hoffmeister, Angie Webster, Judy Vigue, Jan Low, Karen Mynes, Becky Schurman, Lauren Sproul, Angie Moore, Linda Layton, Pat Orme and Joyce Smith. Not Pictured: Willa Harper, Liz Rodriguez, Marlee Newton, Muriel Schnier, Maxine Sigloh and Maria Wartnik. PAT ORME HEALTH ADMINISTRATOR EXT. 525 The mission of the Health Depart ment is to promote, protect, and pre serve the health of Coos County citi zens and the environment in which they live. The department was established in 1922 and was the first full time health department in Oregon. Through 7 ba sic program areas, the Health Depart ment provides preventive services throughout the county to prevent dis ease and improve the health of indi viduals and also to prevent the spread of disease to populations. *The Women, Infant, & Children's Nutrition program (WIC) is a sup plemental food and nutrition education program that serves infants and chil dren up to age 5 years old, and women who are pregnant, breast feeding, or have recently had a baby. Participants receive health screening, free foods, nutritional counseling, and classes on a wide range of topics, such as breast feeding, feeding atoddler, smoking ces sation, and food safety. Coos County WIC services over 2000 participants a year. *The Family Planning Program helps women plan or prevent pregnan cies. Services include women's annual physical exams, pregnancy testing and counseling, low cost contraceptives, and cancer screening (pap tests and breast exams, with referral for mam mography if needed). Community out reach to teens includes health educa tion about contraceptives, abstinence, and sexually transmitted diseases, and also immunizations for Hepatitis B. * The Epidemiology and Disease Control Program is mandated by law to protect public health and safety. Cer tain contagious diseases, such as measles and tuberculosis, must be re ported by physicians to the Health De partment for record keeping and follow up. Through drop, in clinks, persons can get the HIV test, examsand treat ment for sexually transmitted diseases (such as genital warts and chlamydia), and booster immunizations. Services for AIDS also include the seropositive wellness program and community edu cation., *Immunizations are given to chil dren and adults to prevent life threaten ing diseases, such as tetanus, polio, measles, and hemophilus b. Extra immunization clinics are offered each year to give flu shots and to immunize children for school entry. Children not up to date on their shots by the middle of February are Excluded from school or day care. The Environmental Health Pro gram includes investigation of diseases that are spread by food or water; facility inspections of hot lunch programs; in spections of water and sewer systems for real estate loan qualifications, hous ing inspections for nuisance complaints, and water monitoring for the Depart ment of Agriculture shellfish program., * The Vital Statistics Program reg isters all births and deaths occurring in Coos County For some services at the Health De partment, such as WIC and community education, there is no charge. Other services have fees, some of which are based on sliding scales. The Health Department can also bill the Oregon Health Plan, and private insurance. Support for Health Department serv ices comes from State and Federal monies, county revenues, and grants from public and private foundations.
