Southwest Nebraska Public Health can help

Are you the caregiver of a person with special needs and want a break from the enormous responsibility? Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department can help. Have you tried and tried to give up smoking, to no avail? Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department can help. Do you need to get your child up to date on their school immunizations? They can help with that, too.

The Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department will be celebrating their 10th birthday with an open house on Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Their office is at 404 West 10th Street. Drawings, giveaways, and tours of the facility will be part of the open house celebration.

In 2001, Nebraska used some of the $50 million a year that it receives from a settlement with the tobacco industry to create and fund 18 public health districts across the state. Each district needed to serve at least 30,000 residents, so eight counties in the area signed an inter-local agreement and incorporated to form Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department (SWNPHD).

It was a good use for a portion of the settlement funds because the health department provides services that might not otherwise be available to sparsely populated areas. The department addresses public safety issues such as mold, lead, radon gas, and pandemic flu. They help to coordinate disaster training and bio-preparedness. They collect mosquitoes and dead birds to send to a state laboratory to test for West Nile. They take the lead in educating the public on health issues that are important to the area residents.

They also partner with other health and welfare agencies, as well as law enforcement, throughout the communities they serve.

Director Myra Stoney joined SWNPHD in 2004. Other staff members include Heidi Wheeler, Emergency Response Coordinator; Janet Brenning, Office Manager; Jamey Keen, Public Health Nurse; Helena Janousek, Respite Coordinator; Denise Ringenberg, Health Educator; Linda Gordon, Program Assistant; Maxine Logan, Clerical Assistant; and Doris Tryon, Housekeeping.

The district covers Chase, Dundy, Frontier, Furnas, Hitchcock, Hayes, Perkins, and Red Willow counties. The board of trustees consist of one county commissioner from each county, as well as one other public-spirit minded person from each county. The board also includes one physician and one dentist, constituting eighteen trustees on the board. They do not receive funding from the counties, but rather get their funding from the tobacco settlement, grants, contracts, and some state funding for designated programs.

Myra felt that the greatest impact SWNPHD has had on the area over the past ten years is the community preparedness element of the department. "We now have a community preparedness committee in place in each county that we serve," said Myra, "so, for example, if we were to have an outbreak of smallpox or H1N1, we would be able to move in a fairly quick fashion to get people vaccinated or treated, or we could partner with other agencies to protect the public."

Myra and her staff would love to see a big crowd at the open house tomorrow to enjoy some healthy snacks. We often talk about the great quality of life that is available in Southwest Nebraska. Our health and safety is an important factor in that quality of life that we should not take for granted. We should all stop by and tell SWNPHD thanks for their efforts.