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Grundy County Board of Health pilots late WIC clinic and affirms newborn hepatitis B dose
Summary
At a recent Grundy County Board of Health meeting, staff reported a new late WIC clinic pilot, a statewide WIC formula change to Similac starting Feb. 1, and that Illinois Department of Public Health guidance reaffirms the hepatitis B dose at birth; the board approved the programmatic report by voice vote.
The Grundy County Board of Health heard programmatic and operations updates from health department staff and approved the department’s report by voice vote.
Health department staff outlined workforce and service changes, including a new emergency response coordinator who started Jan. 5 and three current job openings. Staff said the county is an approved SHIP site for Medicare/Medicaid counseling and that a draft 2025 annual report has been circulated for board review.
A staff member described a pilot late WIC clinic that will run the third Wednesday of each month with extended hours (open until 6 p.m.) to try to increase enrollment. “So we’re just trying to see if that will increase our enrollment a little bit with our WIC program,” the staff member said.
Staffers also said the brand of formula distributed through WIC will switch statewide to Similac beginning Feb. 1; they cautioned that physicians still must write prescriptions for specialized formulas for clinical cases. A staff member said the change applies across the state, not only to Grundy County.
On immunizations, staff reported that the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) reaffirmed previous Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance and recommended the hepatitis B dose at birth remain part of the standing order. The staff member said, “I haven’t changed anything with our standing order so I won’t change our standing orders unless you all would like me to.”
Staff also summarized respiratory surveillance: statewide activity was described as moderate based on hospital admissions. The department noted local testing is limited to influenza A/B, COVID-19 and RSV because the county ran out of swabs and cannot run broader respiratory panels at present.
Other program items included the department’s reapplication for a SHIP grant for the 04/01/2026–03/31/2027 period and that during 2025 the county completed and had audited standard 7 — the first standard approved for Grundy County since the initial 2018 application. Staff reported recent public-health training activity (a certified food manager class) and an increase in tobacco-program allocation from IDPH (specific future increases not yet released).
The board approved the health department programmatic and operations report by voice vote and moved on to financial and claims items later in the meeting.
