Supervisors waive convention-center fees for children's health rally; organizers must coordinate security

The Board of Supervisors voted to waive Washington County Convention Center rental fees for a back-to-school health rally that will provide free wellness screenings, backpacks and community resources, organizers said.

Jenny Piscale, of the Center for Children with Medical Complexity at Children's Hospital, described the pilot event held in Jackson last year and the plan to bring a similar event to Washington County. "We did a pilot last year 26middot; we did wellness screens on 157 children," Piscale said, and added that organizers conducted follow-up when screenings were abnormal: "We had 13 that we found abnormal screenings and we had to make sure they had those follow-up visits." The event package in the supervisors' packet said the rally would include free backpacks, school supplies, screenings and boxed lunches.

The board approved the fee waiver after a motion and second and directed organizers to coordinate event security with the sheriff's department. Supervisors also encouraged organizers to connect with Medicaid managed-care organizations and other local partners that had already expressed interest.

Organizers asked that the county waive convention-center fees and help publicize the event; supervisors approved the waiver and asked staff to keep them informed of logistics and partner outreach. The organizers said they intend the rally to be an annual, community-run event that brings providers and nonprofit resources together in one location.

"We want this to be something that becomes an annual event in this area and working with partners here," Piscale said.