MOUNT VERNON — Statistics presented to City Council on Monday night by Julie Miller, Knox County health commissioner, showed an increase in the number of visits to the health and dental clinics compared to last quarter. Miller attributes the rise to two things: people are catching up on visits missed due to the bad weather over the winter and the increase in immunizations due to the measles outbreak.
Miller said Knox County has entered a unified command structure with six contiguous counties to handle the measles outbreak; she will serve as incident commander. Knox County is the epicenter; every case reported relates back to Knox County. There are 195 confirmed cases, and Miller anticipates that to reach 200. In Knox County, all of those affected are in the Amish/Mennonite community; in other counties, the outbreak has spread to non-Amish individuals via school exposure, auctions and other similar activities.
Miller said she wrote a letter to Ohio Gov. John Kasich requesting an emergency declaration for Knox County. Two weeks into the outbreak the health department had already spent $25,000 in staff and supplies. “Hopefully we will see some reimbursement and help with that,” she said.
Miller encouraged council members to complete the community health assessment developed by the Knox County Community Health Partnership. The survey takes 10 to 15 minutes to complete and is available online at www.surveymonkey.com/s/KnoxHealthSurvey2014 until Aug. 31. Residents who want to request a paper copy can call 397-5721. The partnership will use the results to develop programs targeted to the needs identified by the community.
The health department will continue to hold a farmers market the first and third Wednesday of each month from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. WIC vendors also participate in the market.
The Ronald McDonald Care Mobile van will be in the county on July 1, July 15 and Aug. 19 to provide school and/or sports physicals for youth up to age 21. Clients will be asked for insurance information, but if clients are noninsured or underinsured, a sliding pay scale is in place.
Miller reported the health department is on schedule with mosquito spraying. Because of feedback from residents that evening spraying interferes with walking and other outdoor activities, the department is doing some spraying in the early morning. Miller also said the department is looking for a new truck; the current one is a 1998 with 260,000 miles on it. The department is using a county truck until a replacement truck is found.
