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Anaconda Deer Lodge County public health department reports steady services and elevated respiratory illness levels
Summary
Public health staff reported continued immunization services, higher-than-expected respiratory illness including RSV cases, expanded food licensing activity, and progress on accreditation, preparedness and home-visiting programs. Staff will pursue lead-screening coordination with ARCO and prepare for a WIC audit at month-end.
County public health staff told the Board of Health March 27 that routine services continue while some health threats and program demands have risen.
The department said immunization services will continue as currently implemented. Staff reported respiratory-illness levels remain high and that respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) cases have been reported; staff said provider surveillance and testing for vaccine-preventable diseases has increased, which raises workload because each test is treated as a suspected case.
Environmental health staff reported steady activity on on-site septic systems and site evaluations despite a warm winter, an uptick in mobile food-plan reviews, several new licensed establishments including cottage food businesses, and work to license tourist homes. Staff plan to attend the Confluence conference in April for training and to review new legislation.
The department is working with ARCO to establish a streamlined lead-screening approach for the community. The WIC program is implementing the Healthy Together app and refining workflows ahead of a state WIC audit scheduled for the end of May. Family planning staff reported the grant year ends March 31 and that the site met its client-volume goal for new unduplicated clients; a state site visit is scheduled for early June. Home visiting programs reported Asthma Home Visiting exceeded its client goal and Parents as Teachers enrollment remains on target.
The minutes also record recent tabletop exercises for measles and a wider community disease-and-disaster response; the exercises reinforced the need for a Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP), which the department plans to test and then present to the board.
The department provided updates but the minutes do not attribute these program reports to a single named presenter. The board received documents and will consider them as staff follow up on implementation and accreditation steps.
