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.