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Health department reports late-season RSV spike, breastfeeding "mother27s room," staffing and program updates
Summary
The Saline County Health Department reported a late-season rise in RSV cases among children, announced clinic and staffing developments, and said it is preparing a community report and recommendations on opioids and mental-health outreach.
Jason Tiller, director of the Saline County Health Department, updated the board on public-health activity covering November through January, reporting on respiratory-illness trends, clinic operations, staffing and community outreach.
Tiller said emergency-department visits for respiratory illnesses have seen an up-and-down pattern but that RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) began spiking in December with a notable increase among children. "This has been later this year than normal," he said, adding that the county has not seen increased severity in cases but has observed later circulation.
Tiller also reported a successful VFC (Vaccines for Children) audit and said nursing students from Kansas Wesleyan University and the University of Kansas have been rotating through the clinic. He announced the upcoming retirement of longtime disease investigator Maria Schulte after 14 years and highlighted staff and program accomplishments: the creation of a mother's room for breastfeeding and pumping in the health department waiting area, a fathers27 workshop planned for April, WIC caseloads above 1,000 clients, and restored staffing levels in home health with a new nurse starting March 3.
On behavioral-health and substance-use work, Tiller said the department completed an opioid community survey with two community listening sessions; staff are compiling recommendations for an April report to guide an opioid task force. He also described a planned mental-health awareness event in May and noted ongoing training to expand local capacity for mental-health-first-aid instruction.
Tiller said public-health grant uncertainty remains at the state level: "Just keep moving forward with our programs and our current grants," he told commissioners, describing statewide ambiguity about federal-to-state funding pathways and imploring local programs to continue applications until further guidance arrives.
Commissioners thanked Tiller for the update and asked clarifying budget and timeline questions. The board heard no formal action on the item; it was presented for information.
