Mobile County Health Department receives National Community Health Center week proclamation



The Mobile County Health Department's Susan Stiegler, Mobile Mayor Sam
Jones and Angelia Blackmon Lewis pose for a photo with the proclamation
on August 13, 2013 during the Mobile City Council meeting.



MOBILE, Alabama -- Mobile Mayor Sam Jones declared August 13, 2013, as Community Health Center Day in Mobile during a City Council meeting here. The Mobile County Health Department’s Susan Stiegler, Director of Family Health Services, and Angelia Blackmon Lewis, a director in the Bureau of Primary Care, accepted the proclamation during the meeting at Government Plaza. National Community Health Center Week spans August 11-17.

President Barack Obama also issued a proclamation this week detailing the numerous ways community health center’s perform vital roles across the nation. “One in every 15 people living in the United States depends on their services,” he said of community health centers. “They are an important source of jobs in many low-income communities, employing more than 148,000 people nationwide. And with clinical and support staff who are responsive to their communities' needs and cultures, health centers are important partners in our efforts to reduce health disparities.”

Since 1979, the Mobile County Health Department’s Family Oriented Primary Health Care Clinic (FOPHCC) has provided comprehensive primary care services throughout Mobile County and now provides primary care services at nine sites from Mount Vernon to Tillman’s Corner. The sites, which are all designated as Federally Qualified Health Centers, are strategically located where the targeted population needs are the greatest and access to care is limited, agency officials said. A mobile health unit also brings primary care and wellness screenings to those who might not otherwise have the means to travel to a health center.

With higher unemployment and more people uninsured or underinsured across Alabama and beyond, community health centers have become the safety net for those who don’t have access to other sources of health care. For more than 45 years, community health centers have delivered comprehensive, high-quality preventive and primary health care to patients regardless of their ability to pay. During that time, community health centers have become the essential primary care medical home for millions of Americans, including some of the nation’s most vulnerable populations, health officials said.

Here's something healthy: Southwest Mobile Health Center holds open house

A ribbon cutting ceremony was held Aug. 9, 2013 at the Southwest Mobile
Health Center in Tillman's Corner. From left, Chief Wilford Taylor, Mobile
County Commissioner Merceria Ludgood, Mobile Mayor Sam Jones, Comm.
Jerry Carl, Mobile City Councilman John Williams and Dr. Bernard Eichold.



The Mobile County Health Department on Friday, August 9, 2013, held an official grand opening event for the Southwest Mobile Health Center, the agency’s ninth Family Oriented Primary Health Care Clinic.

Dozens of city and county leaders gathered to celebrate the expansion of access to quality primary health services in the area. Funded by a federal grant through the Affordable Care Act, more than $1.3 million is being reinvested in the community during a two-year period through the renovation and operation of the health center.

“Everyone deserves access to quality primary health care,” Dr. Eichold said, adding that the Mobile County Health Department continually seeks innovative ways to promote and protect the health of those who live and work in Mobile County and beyond.

In an effort expand access to care and services, Southwest also includes the Women, Infant and Children (WIC) Nutrition Program.

Patient hours for the health center are Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. Fees are based on a sliding scale. Beginning August 12, medical providers at Southwest will accept pediatric and adult patients on weekdays. Private insurance, such as BlueCross/BlueShield, as well as Medicare and Medicaid, is accepted. Call 251-690-8889 for an appointment.

Through its primary care health centers, Mobile County Health Department providers saw nearly 39,000 patients during 2012 for health care needs that included primary medical care, optometry, dentistry, women’s health, family planning and pediatric care. The Mobile County Health Department also operates other primary care health centers throughout Mobile County, including locations in Semmes, Eight Mile, Citronelle, Mount Vernon and downtown Mobile.

Smoke free city: Satsuma law takes effect August 2

MOBILE, Alabama – Today’s the day Satsuma goes smoke free. On July 2, the Satsuma City Council unanimously passed an ordinance banning smoking in public and work places – including restaurants, bars, ballparks and playgrounds -- that was set to take effect 30 days from the passage of the new law.

Satsuma joins Creola, Saraland, Citronelle and Bayou La Batre in creating comprehensive local smoking ordinances which protect all public and work places from exposure to second hand smoke.

An outdoor billboard to recognize the transition of Satsuma to a smoke free community is now on display in the city of 6,200, which is located in northern Mobile County.

The City of Satsuma has included a copy of the new ordinance on its website that outlines fines that will be levied against those who smoke where it’s prohibited. Those who want to smoke outdoors in public places must stands at least 15 feet from entrances to businesses or workplaces, including outdoor bleachers and playground equipment at parks and other recreation facilities, according to the ordinance.

 “It’s a great thing because it protects everyone in the community from exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke which we know causes immediate damage to the body,” said Cathy Clothier, a tobacco prevention and control educator with the Mobile County Health Department. “People in Satsuma can literally breathe easier now.”

Also included in the ordinance is language regarding the operation of hotels and motels with a provision that states no such business shall have more than 20 percent of its rooms designated as smoking. The Satsuma smoking ordinance was first introduced during a public meeting on June 18, 2013, health officials said.

Health Department's Dana Herazo recognized for successful diabetes education program

Dana Herazo, second from the right, was one of two state nutrition advocates

who received Diabetes and Cardiovascular Prevention and Self-Management

awards from the Alabama Diabetes Network on May 15, 2013, in Montgomery.

MOBILE, Alabama -- Dana Herazo, a registered dietitian who works in nutrition services for the Mobile County Health Depatrment, was one of two state leaders recognized by the Alabama Diabetes Network with the Diabetes and Cardiovascular Prevention and Self-Management Award during a ceremony on May 15, 2013, in Montgomery. 

Herazo is a senior nutritionist with Nutrition Services at the Health Department's Diabetes Today site. She was honored for teaching patients referred from health care providers in the self-management of their diabetes which can prevent future health complications that include hypertension, heart disease, stroke, blindness, neurological problems, kidney disease and lower extremities amputation. Herazo also serves as the president of the Alabama Dietetic Association and was named Employee of the Year in 2011 by the Mobile County Health Department.

The certificate of appreciation she was given acknowledges her work with the following message: "The selflessness, sacrifice and leadership displayed enables patients to climb the stairs of health care self-management one step at a time."

Lilly B. Hall, a registered nurse in Tuskegee, also was honored for starting a diabetes support group in 2011 that includes 26 churches in her area, according to "Alabama's Health," an official publication of the Alabama Department of Public Health in Montgomery.

Welcome to the neighborhood: Groundbreaking held for Renaissance Plaza on Broad Street

Michael E. Pierce, executive director of the MLK Avenue Redevelopment Corp., stands beside an artist's rendering of Renaissance Plaza immediately following a ground breaking at the site off Broad Street July 22, 2013. Pierce said residents should be pleased when the anchor store for the development is finally announced.

MOBILE, Alabama -- As murky gray clouds gathered above downtown Mobile, city and business leaders converged on a patch of grass off Broad Street Monday, July 22, 2013, to officially break ground on a retail development complex that will be named Renaissance Plaza, organizers said.

A bit of mystery surrounded the mid-morning event, as city planners wouldn't reveal the name of an anchor store for the new business. "I think everybody is going to be pleasantly surprised," said Michael E. Pierce, who serves as executive director of the MLK Avenue Redevelopment Corp.

The Broad Street retail center, located at 350 Broad St., will be a $2.5 million, 13,750 square foot retail space with 10 bays, serving as a focal point for residents of the MLK Avenue and downtown Mobile, city officials said.

In addition to providing basic conveniences common to most urban neighborhoods, the center is expected to enhance the Broad Street corridor, create employment opportunities for area residents, be a catalyst for future commercial development and generate a continuous stream of sales and property tax revenues. An estimated 60 jobs should be created when all the business are up and running, Pierce said.

Participating in the groundbreaking were Ann Bedsole with the Sybil H. Smith Charitable Trust, Christopher L. Lee with the J.L. Bedsole Foundation, City of Mobile Mayor Sam Jones and Pierce, among others. 

Construction of the retail center is expected to begin in early August, Pierce said, noting that it is expected to take about six months for the project to be completed.

Martha Peek, superintendent for the 62,000-student Mobile County Public School System, was among those who braved the rain to celebrate the new business: "This will be good for the community."

Drumroll please ...

Immunization clinic staff prepares for back-to-school blue card rush





Mobile County Health Department staff member Barbara Gibbs, who works

in the Immunization Clinic, shows off some of the literature she has prepared

for those who visit the downtown health center this summer. 



MOBILE, Alabama -- With a little more than a month before Mobile County public schools are back in session, immunization clinic staff members are preparing for the annual last-minte rush of parents trying to make sure their children's immunization records, also known as blue cards, are up-to-date.

Appointments are now being accepted by the Mobile County Health Department's Immunization Clinic in downtown Mobile for school-age children who need to receive vaccines to update their immunization certificate. Previously, clients were seen on a first-come, first-serve basis. The Mobile County Public School System starts classes on August 19.

Immunization appointments may be made by calling 251-690-8908. Because of high volumes, among other factors, it typically takes 48 hours to process and create a new immunization certificate, health officials said.

Children in Alabama who will attend day cares, Head Start programs, or public or private schools must have an immunization certificate showing that required vaccines are up-to-date before they can be enrolled. Children who are not changing schools this year and don't have an expired blue card should already have an immunization certificate on file at the school, health officials said.

Immunzations are available on weekdays from 7:30 a.m. until 3 p.m. at the MCHD on North Bayou Street.

Here's what to bring when coming in for school immunization and an Immunization Certificate: Parent's or caregiver's photo ID; Child's social security number; Child's immunization record; Insurance card.