Published: August 30, 2007 11:32 pm         

Health Department begins process of combining Well-Child, Communicable Disease clinics

New clinic expected to open September 10

TERRE HAUTE — Two Vigo County health clinics are combining under one roof as workers Thursday began moving furniture and equipment into the west end of the Vigo County Annex.

The Vigo County Well Child Clinic and the Vigo County Communicable Disease Clinic will now be known as the Vigo County Health Department Clinic, at 696 S. First Street. The new clinic opens Sept. 10.

The well child and disease clinics have become programs under the county department clinic, said Joni Foulkes, director of operations for the Vigo County Health Department.

The programs are using some office space in the annex that previously had been occupied by Hospice of the Wabash Valley and the Visiting Nurse Association of the Wabash Valley.

The well child program, which had been located at the former Charles T. Hyte Community Center – now renamed the Booker T. Washington Park Community Center – had seen a decrease in the number of children served within the past year.

Foulkes said the decrease is due to the state’s Hoosier Healthwise Program, which covers some medical care for low-income families, pregnant women and children.

The program allows children to visit one physician for all their medical needs, including vaccinations.

“We will still give immunizations at the new Vigo County Health Department Clinic,” Foulkes said.

Meanwhile, the communicable disease program has seen an increase in numbers. That’s because many employees in health care fields are required to have a tuberculosis test for employment, Foulkes said.

“We also saw an increase in our STD [sexually transmitted disease] visits because we do the free testing and treatment. We also opened up our international travel vaccination clinic … for people traveling overseas who need particular vaccines. It has been more busy that we had anticipated,” Foulkes said.

Vigo County began its travel vaccination program in earnest in April. From April through June this year, the county has given 350 vaccinations such as yellow fever, hepatitis or typhoid fever.

The health department is a state-approved yellow fever vaccination and travel center. Other centers are in Indianapolis, Evansville and Bloomington. The goal is to educate and protect international travelers against vaccine-preventable diseases.

The county charges for the cost of the vaccine, plus a $5 administration fee.

Because of an increase in visits for STD tests, Vigo County in March started charging a $10 fee to out-of-county residents for the tests. The county, over a three-year period without the fee, had seen a 300-percent increase in the number of STD tests.

In 2005, Vigo County had 644 people tested for sexually transmitted diseases, according to county health records. After the $10 fee was instituted this year, the county saw a decrease from April to June, with just 150 STD clinic visits.

“We have also increased our responsibilities on our pandemic flu planning. We have seen doctors, hospitals and labs do more timely reporting of diseases, so we have to follow up on all reported diseases, which has increased our workload,” Foulkes said.

The combined space will allow the health department to be more cost-effective, Foulkes added.

“This is consolidating our computers, our refrigerators [used to store immunization shots] and staff, which makes us more cost-effective. We are assessing where we need our staff and resources, and are we giving the taxpayers the best service for their money for the space and resources we have,” Foulkes said.

Howard Greninger can be reached at (812) 231-4204 or howard.greninger@tribstar.com.