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Jefferson County Health Department reports screenings, immunizations and emergency-preparedness work for 2024
Summary
The county health department reported school hearing screenings, immunizations just above 2,000, food and septic inspections and ongoing emergency-preparedness drills as part of its 2024 annual review and 2025 plans.
Jefferson County’s Health Department presented its annual report at the Jan. 23 commissioners meeting, outlining school health screenings, immunizations, food-safety inspections and emergency-preparedness activities from 2024 and preliminary plans for 2025.
The department reported conducting 457 hearing screenings at schools, educating 374 students on dental hygiene and 254 students on handwashing using interactive tools. Staff distributed 36,100 eclipse glasses (transcript number) and the school liaison attended 26 school nurse meetings; the liaison also dropped off 12 epinephrine auto-injectors and 10 albuterol inhalers and provided 17 trainings. Public health nurses delivered six community educational opportunities, and the department completed 244 tuberculosis tests and more than 2,000 immunizations in 2024.
Emergency-preparedness activities included 30 meetings and 16 drills, plus 25 exercises supporting the department’s emergency-preparedness grant. In environmental and food safety work, staff completed 475 retail food inspections, 107 temporary food inspections and issued 460 permits; environmental services logged 184 septic consultations. Vital records showed 366 births and 373 deaths in Jefferson County for 2024.
On finance, the department said birth/death certificate revenue covered the salary of the vital records coordinator and retail food permit revenue covered the salaries of two permit staff (excluding benefits). The immunization program reported an approximate 42% return on investment for vaccines the county purchased directly, a capability the department said distinguishes Jefferson County from many peers and helps sustain operations.
Looking ahead to 2025, the department said it will reassess some projects in its Health First budget and pursue partnerships and contracts to expand emergency-preparedness work, lab capacity and community prevention programs. The department said it will also seek board support as contract or capital requests are finalized.
