Mid-Ohio Valley Health Dept. serves Calhoun, Pleasants, Ritchie, Roane, Wirt and Wood counties, and has additional Women, Infants and Children (WIC) offices in Jackson, Gilmer and Mason counties.

The mission of the organization is “to do everything in our power to protect the health of the communities . . .”

How does it achieve that mission? The answer can be broken down into four broad areas: clinical, WIC; environmental; and threat preparedness.

Clinical services in Calhoun includes immunizations (administrative fee) for children, adolescents and adults (limited); STD (no charge) testing and treatment; Tuberculosis (administrative fee or no charge) testing, medication, X-ray, and doctor visit follow-up; HIV (no charge) testing and treatment; Pregnancy testing (nurse visit fee) urine test; lab testing (fee) blood and urine - need doctor’s prescription;

Epidemiology, reportable disease surveillance; health fairs (as requested); educational speakers (no charge) as requested; off-site flu clinics (per request); blood pressure (no charge) checks at MOVHD office and area businesses; and fluoride testing (no charge).

WIC provides free nutritional education and counseling, breast feeding support, and nutritious foods, such as cheese, milk, eggs, juice, infant formula and cereal. Clients served are income-eligible pregnant, post-partum, breast-feeding women, infants, and children up to age five years.

Left to right, Steven Bayer, RS, program manager of environmental health and threat preparedness; Jane Moore, RN, clinical director; and Richard Wittberg, PhD, executive director.

Regular health screening and medical referrals can also be received by clients if necessary. On an average, 250 individuals are seen monthly in Calhoun.

Environmental Health Services Dept. protects the public from diseases that are largely food or water borne. Through inspections of food service operations, septic tank and home aeration systems, water wells, mobile home parks, swimming pools, and day care facilities, it keeps surveillance on communities.

West Nile disease and the spread of rabies is monitored through a variety of precautions, such as mosquito trapping, dead bird collection, and collecting and analyzing brain stems of certain dead animals

Threat preparedness is in charge of protecting the general public through planning, detecting, communicating, and responding to threats ranging from acts of terrorism to new emerging diseases. It works to create a network of trained organizations ready to react and respond when needed.

MOVHD has much to offer the community. Over the next several months, other programs that meet the needs of citizens will be discussed.

For information about the MOVHD, visit www.movhd.com. The local office, located at 2B Hospital Dr., Grantsville, can be contacted by calling  354-6101, faxing 354-6654, or emailing calhounhd@wvdhhr.org. The WIC office is 354-6898.

Local representatives on the board of health are Tony Richards and Bill Shock.