MOUNT VERNON — The Knox County Health Department has achieved what less than 7 percent of health departments nationwide accomplish: received national accreditation.
“There’s less than 200 public health departments out of 3,000 who are accredited, so I think you should be very proud of your health department and all of the work that went into it,” Health Commissioner Julie Miller told Mount Vernon council members on Monday. “In the state of Ohio, we are either 20th or 21st to receive accreditation.”
Although national accreditation is not required, the 114 health departments in Ohio are required to be accredited by 2020. Accreditation through the Public Health Accreditation Board is the culmination of a three-year, multi-faceted, peer review assessment to ensure the department meets or exceeds a set of quality standards and measures for public health. The health department will undergo assessment every five years to maintain the designation.
“As much as we complained [about the process], we also know the benefit to the community. As you know, your health department has been a leader in public health in this community for a number of years. I think this just verifies what we’ve known, and that is that we can now prove it to the residents. We can see quality outcomes because of the improvement measures that we’ve put in place,” said Miller.
In other health news, Miller said the county has seen its first case of La Crosse encephalitis, a mosquito-borne illness that is very serious.
“And this resident is a child. It’s even more serious when a child is bitten and infected, so we will be doing our due diligence with spraying and patient education efforts,” said Miller. “I encourage everyone here to spread the word about controlling mosquito populations on your property.”
More information on eliminating mosquitoes can be found on the KCHD website. Also on the website is information about Lyme Disease in humans, which Miller said is on the increase in the county.
“This can also be a very devastating illness as well,” she said. “We encourage everyone to be cautious when they are out in high grass and high weeds.”
Miller said that another proud moment for the department was when Nate Overholt, environmental health director, was chosen to sit on a state board that looks at rules for tattoos, body art, and body piercings.
“That might not sound exciting to you, but it’s been a long time coming since the rules were written and there are a lot of new techniques that are new to us,” she said.
Miller reported that the numbers continue to increase in the community health center, and the center is looking for another mental health provider.
“It also means that we’re out of space, and we’re splitting at the seams,” she said. “We’ve done a feasibility study on the facility and doing our due diligence right now and looking at other options available to us.”
