New grant funds repairs to former U.S. Marine Hospital that's older than the Statue of Liberty

MOBILE, Ala. -- The Mobile County Health Department was recently awarded a $5,000 grant from the Alabama Historical Commission through its Capital Enhancements Grant Program, according to Mark Bryant, Grants Coordinator at MCHD. 

The money will be used to help offset the cost for repairs to an original section of the Keeler building that was originally a U.S. Marine Hospital beginning in 1842. During that time, the structure provided a space to care for sick and disabled seaman. In 1955, the U.S. Marine Hospital was converted into a tuberculosis hospital, and was named in honor of Frank S. Keeler.

In 1974, the TB clinic closed. The Saint Anthony Street facility, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, soon changed hands. In December of 1974, the Mobile County Board of Health entered into a lease/purchase arrangement for the building. In 1983, all Mobile County Health Department services were moved to the building located in downtown Mobile.

The structure is older than the Statue of Liberty and remains a landmark to Mobile’s medical history. The first phase of repair work was recently completed, after a construction crew reinforced the northeast corner of the building closest to North Bayou Street with new beams.

Mobile County Health Department named 'Employer of the Year' by Virginia College

MOBILE, Ala. -- The Mobile County Health Department has been named Employer of the Year by Virginia College in Mobile. An award will be presented to MCHD during the college’s upcoming commencement ceremony March 30, 2015 at the Mobile Convention Center.

Alabama’s oldest public health agency was selected for the honor because of the support given to graduates through externship opportunities, offering interview practice, participation on an advisory board, as well as for the training and hiring of new graduates.  MCHD’s Medical Staff Coordinator, Denise Peele, works closely with area colleges and training centers throughout the year to ensure a successful experience for interns and other medical staff.

Virginia College, founded in 1983, is a private institution that offers non-degree and associate's, bachelor's and master's degree programs in the areas of Health and Medical, Business, Information Technology, Computer Design, Cosmetology, Culinary Arts and more with locations in 27 different cities. The schools are accredited by the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) which is listed as a nationally recognized accrediting agency by the U.S. Department of Education and is recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).

Family Health awarded $10,000 dental equipment grant for Dauphin Island Parkway Health Center

MOBILE, Ala. -- The Mobile County Health Department's Family Health division was recently awarded a $10,000 grant by the Delta Dental Community Care Foundation. The money will be used to help offset the cost of purchasing dental equipment for the Dauphin Island Parkway Health Center.

Among the items to be purchased include an exam chair, lights, an X-ray system, and a computer, said Dr. Kerri Bowie, Family Health's Dental Department director. Bowie said the DIP Health Center, which is in close proximity to at least three public schools and several Head Start programs, will soon be able to provide cleanings, sealants and screenings to children.

Right now, only screenings are available at the DIP Health Center. Dr. Bowie said with a dentist at the site one day a week, she anticipates serving 15 patients a day for a total of 780 encounters a year.

The mission of the Delta Dental Community Care Foundation is to increase access to dental care by providing grants to non-profit community clinics that extend the benefits of dentistry to underserved residents in communities across the region.

Family Health's dental clinics provide teeth cleaning and treatment services to children between the ages of 1 and 20 and adults who qualify. Fees are based on a patient’s family size and income.

Services are offered at the Downtown Health Center, Eight Mile Health Center, North Mobile Health Center in Mount Vernon and the Semmes Health Center. Dental services will soon be available at the Southwest Health Center and at the DIP Health Center. To find out about how to qualify for services, call 251-690-8139.

February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month

Deadline looms: Family Health offers expanded hours to sign up for health insurance downtown

MOBILE, Ala. – The Mobile County Health Department’s Family Health division will have certified application counselors available from 8 a.m. until 9:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday this week, at its downtown location, 251 N. Bayou St., to assist those who want to enroll in the federal Health Insurance Marketplace created through the Affordable Care Act.

The 2015 open enrollment period ends in FIVE days on Feb. 15, 2015. Those who don’t have health coverage during 2015 may have to pay a fee when filing income tax returns.

Family Health and other community partners are offering a variety of opportunities to assist the community with enrolling in the federal health insurance marketplace, also known as Obamacare. All Family Health locations across Mobile County will have staff members available to assist with the enrollment process.

For more information, call 251-445-8632. The MCHD.org and FamilyHealthAlabama.org websites, as well as Family Health and MCHD’s Facebook and Twitter pages also offer more information about signing up before the deadline.

About Family Health: In 1979, the Mobile County Health Department launched its primary care division as a way to provide quality health care in areas where the needs are the greatest in Mobile County. Thirty-five years later, a new name and logo were launched to reflect Family Health’s continuous commitment to providing healthcare for all generations. In 2014, more than 40,000 separate patients visited Family Health’s nine primary care sites across Mobile County.

Measles outbreak update: Mobile County Health Department shares vaccination information

Monica Z. Knight, Director of the Bureau of Disease Control and Environmental Health

with the Mobile County Health Department, talks this week with a WKRG television

reporter about the number of students in Mobile County who haven't been vaccinated

because of religious or medical reasons. There are 36 such cases in Mobile as of February 2015.

MOBILE, Ala. -- As the number of cases of measles continues to climb across the U.S. this week, media outlets in Mobile have been looking to the Mobile County Health Department to answer questions about how many students in public and private schools in the area are exempt from having age-appropriate childhood vaccinations because of medical or religious reasons.

While no cases of measles have been reported in Alabama in 2015, other states in the western U.S. have seen cases of the childhood disease that can lead to other serious health conditions.

In Alabama, some 92 percent of school-age students have received their needed vaccinations, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health.

Mobile County Health Department's nutrition staff adds something extra to Scale Back Alabama

 

Members of the Nutrition Services staff of the Mobile County Health Department show off some of the salad bar items prepared for the Friday, Feb. 6, 2015 lunch and learn program. Margaret McCulloch, Rachel Meyers and Minette Elder also passed out information about healthy snacks and using fruits and vegetables to help manage weight. To join the salad bar series, contact McCulloch at Mcculloch@mchd.org

 

 

 

 

 



Mobile County Health Department staff wear red for women's heart health on Feb. 6, 2015

Heart attacks don't just strike men of a certain age and temperament. In fact, heart disease and stroke kill 1 in 3 women, according to the National Heart Association. Friday, Feb. 6, is National Wear Red Day. The goal of the initiative is to show support for raising awareness of heart disease and its symptoms.

Dozens of members of the Mobile County Health Department dressed in bright red hues Friday to visibly recognize the need for more education about heart disease and women's health.

For more information, visit  http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/

Potential mental health care crisis feared as Alabama Psychiatric Services plans shut down

MOBILE, Ala. -- News of the Feb. 13 closing of Alabama Psychiatric Services (APS) has sent shockwaves throughout the membership of the Alabama Psychiatric Physicians Association, the state’s only association representing psychiatrists. APPA released comments from its president, Sandra K. Parker, MD, chief medical officer of AltaPointe Health Systems, about the closing, which affects 11 psychiatric care offices across Alabama. 

“We are stunned and saddened to hear that Alabama Psychiatric Services is closing,” Parker said late Wednesday in a written statement. “When the APPA Executive Council meets next week, we will discuss the significance of APS’s closing and the projected impact it will have on its 30,000 patients. The APPA will do what it can to identify service provision gaps caused by the closing, to help APPA members whose employment may be affected and to ascertain any way it can assist during this potential crisis in care.”

In recent years, the U.S. has seen major changes in health care – especially mental health benefits. The effects of those changes are being felt by those in the medical industry as well as those being served. There are fewer mental health providers in private practice or accepting new patients, and all but one state mental health hospital has closed. Unfortunately for those in need of mental health care, that can mean a reduction in access to care in addition to paying higher deductibles with less coverage – including less drug coverage.

Source: Alabama Psychiatric Physicians Association

Weekend rabies clinics planned for dogs, cats and ferrets in Mobile County

MOBILE, Ala. – The Mobile County Health Department provides low cost rabies shots for cats, dogs and ferrets during weekend clinics. Here’s a list of the rabies clinics planned for Saturdays during February in Mobile County:

• 12:30–2:30 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 7, Mobile Animal Shelter, 855 Owens St.
• 1:30–4 p.m., Feb. 14,  Pet Supplies Plus, 803 Hillcrest Road
• 1:30–3:30 p.m., Feb. 21, St. Elmo Feed and Seed, 9001 Highway 90 West
• 1:30–3:30 p.m., Feb. 28, Dauphin Island Town Hall, 1011 Bienville Blvd.

The cost of the rabies vaccine is $10 per pet except at Pet Supplies Plus and St. Elmo Feed and Seed where the price is $8. All shots are payable in cash only.

Each month, the Mobile County Health Department’s Rabies Officer provides hundreds of residents with low-cost vaccines for their pet dogs, cats and ferrets at a variety of locations. The state of Alabama tasks local Health Department’s with providing affordable rabies vaccinations to pet owners.

About Rabies
Rabies is a virus that attacks the central nervous system. It is transmitted from infected mammals to man and is fatal once symptoms appear. Symptoms of rabies include unusual behavior, irritability, headache, fever, inability to eat or drink, balance problems, circling, seizures, coma, and, finally, death. All warm-blooded mammals, including humans, are susceptible to rabies.

Exposure to rabies may be minimized by eliminating all stray cats and dogs; having pet dogs, cats and ferrets vaccinated; staying away from wild animals, especially those acting abnormally; and not keeping exotic or wild animals as pets, health officials said.

Emergency warning system: Siren testing at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 4 in Mobile County

MOBILE, Ala. -- The Mobile County Emergency Management Agency will be testing warning systems beginning at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2015. The test will include several alert and warning systems, including outdoor warning sirens, according to officials with the Mobile County Emergency Management Agency.

Also, beginning at 2:45 until 3 p.m. on Feb. 4, the Alabama School of Mathematics and Science may or may not be conducting a test of their emergency sirens, EMA officials said. Other facilities may or may not test their warning sirens at or about the same time frame mentioned above.

Scale Back Alabama bonus: Mobile County Health Department salad days planned

MOBILE, Ala. -- Public Health employees in Mobile County are taking the stairs, squeezing in brisk walks and sharing salads as they work to make healthier choices in 2015. There are 74 Mobile County Health Department and Family Health staff members taking part in the free Scale Back Alabama weight loss initiative going on at workplaces and other health care centers across the state through April.
 
At MCHD, there are 37 two-member teams spread across six separate sites. As a way to encourage participation in the weight-loss program, the Health Department’s Nutrition Service’s division is organizing salad bar lunches at its downtown location where the majority of Scale Back participants work.

A walking group, led by Margaret McCulloch of Nutrition Services, also has been started with more than a dozen employees taking a 15-minute morning break to get outside and stretch their legs around the perimeter of the historic downtown campus.  Staffers can meet in the front of the Keeler building at 10 a.m. to join the group.

The salad bars, planned during lunch time once a week, feature speakers who share tips on everything from healthy snacks to yoga moves you can perform in a chair at work. They are being held at the Keeler building in downtown Mobile, Room 351 from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m.

While you don’t have to be enrolled in Scale Back Alabama to take part, those who participate should bring an item to share on the salad bar. Please email Margaret at mcculloch@mchd.org to let her know if you would like to take part. Those who notify her will be included in the weekly Scale Back Alabama salad bar sign-up list.

Here are the upcoming dates for the salad bar lunches: Friday, Feb. 6; Thursday, Feb. 12; Thursday, Feb. 19; Thursday, Feb. 26; Thursday, March 5; Thursday, March 12; Friday, March 20; Thursday, March 26 and Thursday, April 2.