Lake County Health offers services for all
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POLSON — Have an infant and need to make sure she’s thriving? In the market for a flu shot? Wondering about birth control options or a well-woman check? Unsure about whether a car seat is safe? All these questions and many more can be answered at the Lake County Health Department, a brick building at 802 Main Street.
LCHD is for everyone, and last fiscal year they served 344 clients.
“It’s underutilized,” said Emily Colomeda, Lake County health services director. “We are not just a clinic for people who don’t have insurance or can’t afford care; we can serve everybody in the community.”
Colomeda ticked off a -list of services provided: Women, Infants and Children program; family planning; Vaccines for Children Program, which allows eligible children under the age of 18 to get discounted or low-cost vaccines depending on income; adult vaccines; the Buckle-Up Program; tuberculosis screening and treatment; and tobacco prevention.
Vaccines are an important piece because LCHD is tasked with dealing with all communicable diseases, such as tick-borne disease and STDs.
STDs are the primary communicable diseases they deal with, Colomeda said.
Colomeda said LCHD also has a maternal child health block grant.
Bre Utgaard, public health nurse, work under this grant, doing maternal/infant early childhood home visits. There is also a healthy Montana families program, using the Parents as Teachers curriculum, an evidence-based model.
“We make home visits twice a month,” Utgaard said, “and check for child development and family well being – anything from weight checks for infants to a breast-feeding consultation.”
At their monthly group meetings, PAT families have participated in events such as infant massage, holiday crafts and a presentation on car seats.
This program’s goals are to prepare children for school and cut down on domestic violence and emergency room visits. The monthly meetings introduce parents of young children to other parents so they can connect and compare experiences and solutions.
“Anyone can come to these meetings,” Colomeda said, adding that group members don’t have to be clients of LCHD.
Another thing to know about LCHD is it’s the only place in town that has sliding-scale fees for family planning for folks who are low-income.
Low income is defined as below 200 percent of the poverty level, Colomeda said, although there are different guidelines for each program. The United States poverty level is $11,670 for a single person or $23,850 for a family of four.
LCHD will also bill insurance companies for patients who want wellness exams or birth control, and, in many cases, is less expensive. Family planning can be for both women and men during their reproductive years, and the sliding scale is basically based on income. Title X funds it, and Title X has nothing to do with abortion.
Prevention is better. The cost of birth control pills is much less than a birth, complications and, if the child is unplanned, supporting that child for the rest of its life.
“What I love about our family planning program,” Colomeda said, “is clients get a lot of counseling and education.”
LCHD schedules half an hour for each client, something not all clinics can do.
With a pregnancy test, LCHD must provide a patient with all the options for that pregnancy: continuing the pregnancy, adoption and termination. There is no coercion.
“It is truly a woman’s choice,” Colomeda said.
The health of the community is what Colomeda and her crew deals with, that includes what’s out there for people to access.
The Affordable Care Act is the first actual legislation that has mandated money for public health, Colomeda said.
That’s important because the economy of the area hasn’t been great, especially since the Plum Creek mill closed, which impacts people.
One issue Colomeda and Utgaard want to pursue is the lack of information on healthy relationships; but they are glad for their opportunity to get into the county schools to talk about relationships, reproduction information and health.
For information on programs, call (406) 883-7288.
