Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Kosciusko County Health Department Administrator Robert Weaver told the health board Wednesday the Maternal and Child Health Care Clinic and the Immunization Clinic will remain at 1000 Med Park Drive, Warsaw, for at least another year.
There was concern after the sale of KCH to Quorum that the clinics would have to move after their lease is up May 1. Weaver said the clinics will be at the location on a year-by-year basis. The clinics previously paid no rent, and Weaver said he did not know whether they would continue to be rent-free once their current lease expires.
Maternal and Child Health Care Coordinator Sandy Vogel released the clinic's annual performance report. The report is part of the work undertaken to apply for a MCH grant.
Health board member Dr. William Remington said, "I was pretty impressed with this (report). I was just impressed with Sandy's workload. Looking over '97 and '98, there's just been an amazing increase in Sandy's workload."
The clinic provides prenatal care coordination for pregnant women. The majority of first visits are client-initiated. The care coordinator completes first visits, which include helping eligible clients apply for Medicaid and WIC, referring clients to Hoosier Healthwise for selection of primary medical providers, providing prenatal vitamins and discussing nutrition and substance use.
Vogel sees clients and their infants for a postpartum assessment in their homes when the infant is between two weeks and two months old. She refers them to supporting agencies and discusses and assesses infant care.
Approximately 76 percent of the client population can be considered "working poor" families, the report says. Because of unstable employment patterns, the percentage is somewhat variable.
The seven most prevalent problems associated with the clientele for 1998, according to the health department report, include inadequate resources, lack of skills, substance use problems, other stressors, improper diet, unsafe sexual practices and limited coping skills.
The top five educational topics associated with the clientele for 1998 include pre-term labor, contraceptive use, substance use, nutrition and medical treatment.
The largest percentage of new enrollees is age 22-34, at 37.4 percent. The next two largest percentages are age 18 to 19 (21.2 percent) and 16 to 17, at 20.7 percent. Girls age 14 to 15 made up 3.5 percent of the clientele for 1998.
Unduplicated clients are those counted as new enrollees in 1997 but who did not give birth by October 1997, which also was the beginning of fiscal year 1998. They were still in the program in 1998.
The largest percentage of unduplicated clients was again in the 22-to-34 age bracket, with 39.3 percent. Clients age 14-15 made up 4.2 percent of the clientele. Those over 35 made up only 1.9 percent of the clientele.
The majority of 1998 new enrollee clientele were white, at 86.4 percent, followed by Hispanic at 10.6 percent, black at 2.0 percent and others at 1.0 percent.
In other news, Remington said, the consultants for KCH's community health assessment project, Health Quest Consulting, are beginning the project. Community leaders will be interviewed to find out their opinions on pressing health problems in the area.
"It'll take us many months to do this," Remington said.
Remington and Weaver are on the assessment team.
Weaver also told the board Karla Handrich was hired as a part-time community health worker to assist Vogel.
