The Chamber of Commerce is excited to announce the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony celebrating the opening of
Southeast Kansas Multi-County Health Department’s
new location this
Thursday, September 5th
immediately following the Chamber Coffee
Please join
Southeast Kansas Multi-County Health Department
and the Chamber of Commerce
this Thursday, September 5th
for the ribbon cutting ceremony at
524 S. Lowman St. in Fort Scott.
The public health department has relocated from behind the Bourbon County Courthouse to this new, more convenient location. According to Fort Scott Biz, “the employees can serve the community in a larger and more visible building with services such as physicals, immunizations, pregnancy tests, family planning, Kan Be Healthy screenings, blood pressure and blood glucose checks, hearing and vision screenings, SRS referrals, sexually transmitted disease testing, and lab and blood draws.”
Fresenius Medical Center, 2526 S. Main, Fort Scott.
Fresenius Medical Care of Fort Scott, the only dialysis clinic in the community, is closing September 30.
Shirley Irvin, a representative of Fresenius, did verify that the center will close on September 30. A formal statement from the company was not available at publishing time.
“I have talked to Fresenius,” Fort Scott City Manager Dave Martin, said. “They haven’t made money to the point of, they can’t stay open.”
“We are reaching out to see where we are able to help,” Martin said. “CHC (Community Health Center, who has a medical clinic in Fort Scott) and Via Christi ( who has an emergency department in Fort Scott) can’t provide the service, but they are helping me look at options.”
The closing will impact patients and their families that have been served at the center in Fort Scott.
Several family members were waiting on their loved ones at the center on Friday afternoon.
One young lady helped her father-in-law in a wheelchair into their car.
She stated that the family lives in Moran and now will have to drive to Chanute, Pittsburg or Nevada, MO for dialysis.
Another woman was waiting in the waiting room for her husband, whom she said just started dialysis last week.
She stated that her husband will, hopefully, be finished with his dialysis by the end of the month. His treatment was in response to an infection. They live in Missouri.
The following is a quote from a KOAM News segment on July 24, 2019:
“An executive order from President Trump gives the secretary of health and human services a number of deadlines to deal with kidney disease patients.
“In thirty days after July 10th, 2019, he is to pick payment models for kidney care providers to increase treatments for at-risk patients, home dialysis, and transplants.
“In ninety days to propose regulation to enhance procurement and utilization of organs; revise rules for procuring and using organs and to remove financial barriers to donation.
“And in 120 days to start an awareness initiative.
“Then in 180 days to expedite kidney matching and reduce the organ discard rate.”
Click below the recent KOAM News story on the subject:
“Kidney disease was the ninth-leading cause of death in the United States in 2017. Approximately 37 million Americans have chronic kidney disease and more than 726,000 have ESRD. More than 100,000 Americans begin dialysis each year to treat ESRD. Twenty percent die within a year; fifty percent die within 5 years. Currently, nearly 100,000 Americans are on the waiting list to receive a kidney transplant.”
Governor Kelly Applauds KDADS Expansion of HCBS Brain Injury Waiver;
Services to now include individuals age 16 years and older with traumatic or acquired brain injury
TOPEKA – The Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS) is pleased to announce the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently approved its Brain Injury Waiver to include both acquired and traumatic brain injuries for individuals ages 16 years and older.
“Secretary Howard and her team at KDADS have accomplished what is a true collaboration between her agency and interested stakeholders and community partners,” Governor Laura Kelly said. “I believe expanding inclusion for this wavier will positively impact many Kansans and I’m grateful for the time and effort so many people put into making it happen.”
In accordance with a legislative proviso, the expanded waiver makes eligible for services under the traumatic brain injury home and community-based services (HCBS) waiver under the Kansas medical assistance program (KanCare):
Individuals with a documented brain injury acquired from a cause not already covered under the traumatic brain injury waiver, including, but not limited to, stroke, brain trauma, infection of the brain, brain tumor, anorexia or other cause; and
Individuals of any age who would otherwise qualify for services under the traumatic brain injury waiver but for the individual’s age.
“Working with the legislature and collaborating with partners is part of my team’s commitment to continue the long-standing leadership in home and community-based services people expect from KDADS,” Secretary Howard said. “We will continue to look at and talk about innovative ways to approach waiver renewals from a people-first perspective.”
KDADS plans to submit an amendment to CMS later this year to include children younger than age 16 years. Kansas is the first state to propose including children in its brain injury waiver.
The following is part of a series from National Public Radio and Sarah Jane Tribble for Kaiser Health News on the closing of Mercy Hospital in Fort Scott, December 2018, taken from Facebook.
Nationwide, more than 100 rural hospitals have closed since 2010. The loss of these hospitals has forced a change in the way emergency care is provided, including a greater reliance on air ambulances.
Introducing Arts in Medicine, now Accepting Applications
Topeka, Kan. – Arts in Medicine, a partnership between the Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission (KCAIC) and Emporia State University (ESU), is accepting applications from associations, agencies and organizations that provide medical services to Kansans.
If accepted, art therapy faculty and two second-year graduate art therapy students from Emporia State University will work with the applicant agency to build a medical arts program and schedule that meets the needs of specified populations.
Applicants should be interested in offering patients, clients, or staff art therapy services such as, but not limited to:
Group art therapy programming designed to meet the psycho-social needs of patients, caregivers or medical personnel
Individual art therapy for patients receiving treatment (i.e. cancer treatments or transfusions)
Art-based workshops for medical personnel or clinicians in training (stress relief, group bonding, etc.)
Arts-based programs at special events (grief camps, open houses, etc.)
Applicants must be Kansas-based institutions, organizations or associations that provide medical services to Kansas residents. Applications are welcome from agencies that serve all age and developmental levels. Art experience and art skills are not necessary.
Applications are due by Sept. 6, 2019. Applications will be reviewed and evaluated by a panel including members of KCAIC, ESU and art therapy professionals.
Krista Postai, President and CEO of Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas, asked fortscott.biz to dispell some confusion.
“There has been some confusion in Ft. Scott about immunizations (at CHC/SEK),” she said. “In the past, we understood that Mercy (Hospital) usually required a well-child visit or a physical (exam) before administering immunizations.”
” While it’s a great idea to get your child’s immunizations as part of their regular check-up, that’s not always possible so it’s CHC/SEK’s policy to provide shots on a walk-in basis at all of our clinics anytime we are open.”
No appointment is necessary for the immunizations.
Shots can be administered at the center no matter if the primary care physician is affiliated with CHC/SEK.
“We also do immunizations for anyone regardless of who their primary care provider is, so you don’t have to be one of our patients to get you or your child vaccinated,” she said. ” We do ask that you bring your child’s immunization record.”
The facility is located at 403 Woodland Hills Blvd., at the site of the former Mercy Hospital.
Lavetta Simmons presents information about Care To Share at the Bourbon County Inter-Agency Coalition on Aug. 9 at the First Baptist Church.
The Bourbon County Inter-Agency Coalition meets monthly, except July, to allow agencies that help families to network and share what they are all about.
The coalition’s next meeting is Sept. 4 at noon at the First Baptist Church.
The Bourbon County Inter-Agency Coalition met Aug. 7 with Board President Billie Jo Drake leading the meeting.
The mission of the Bourbon County Coalition Board is to provide children with an environment of security, permanence, and a sense of belonging and being loved. To support the mission, grants are applied for annually. Last year the board received a $1,000 grant from the T. B. Baker Foundation and $2,000 from the Southeast Kansas Community Foundation, Billie Jo Drake, president of the board, said at the opening of the meeting.
“We have also received funds from United Way, Key Charitable Trust, Mercy auxiliary, civic organizations and individuals,” Drake said.
The two projects the board focuses on are 1) rent and utility assistance, vetted through another helping agency, The Beacon and 2) pool passes in the summer for area low-income children.
This month, the local helping organization, Care To Share, took its’ turn telling what services they provide the community.
Lavetta Simmons, who along with Joy O’Neal and Teresa Davenport, helped found the ministry in 2007.
Lavetta Simmons
“I lost my Mom and Dad to cancer,” Simmons said. “Through that experience, I want to reach out to others.”
“Some people have no family,” she said. “Some have no insurance.”
The number-one expense is gasoline for traveling to treatments, Simmons said.
Last year Care To Share helped people 788 times and gave out $68,874 to assist the cancer patients.
Not only gas for medical appointments but assistance with wigs after hair loss, bras after mastectomies and many other personal needs.
Also housecleaning, respite care, mowing of lawns, meal coordination, providing Ensure (a nutritional drink), and “Sunshine” calls to patients.
Care To Share’s mission is to provide friendship and support through emotional and financial assistance to individuals who are cancer survivors and their caregivers of Southeast Kansas.
For more information contact Simmons at 620-224-8070, Dona Bauer at 620-224-7075 or Teresa Davenport at 620-362-3042.
The organization has fundraisers throughout the year to support the mission.
In addition, “so many people, businesses, organizations and churches give,” she said.
The ministry is also funded by T.B. Baker Foundation, Fort Scott Area Community Foundation, United Way and memorials.
The Care To Share Board is comprised of Dona Bauer, Donna Beerbower, Kathy Clark, Teresa Davenport, Denny Heidrick, Carol Hill, Nancy Hofer, Randy Holt, Richard Long, Dr. Boban Mathew, Sidney Maycumber, Simmons, and Jerry Witt.
Larry Davenport serves as financial advisor to the organization.
From left: Rebecca Johnson, BSN, RN, the administrator of SEKMCHD; Alice Maffett, Registered Nurse in Bourbon County and Kristi George, the administrative assistant. They stand in front of the new public health department facility at 6th and Horton.
The local public health department moved from behind the Bourbon County Courthouse to a more spacious building and reopened on July 29 to offer health services to the community.
The new space for Southeast Kansas Multi-County Health Department is located between 6th and Horton and 6th and Lowman Streets at 524 S. Lowman.
The Southeast Kansas Multi-County Health Department is located between 6th and Lowman Streets and 6th and Horton Streets.
In former years the building has been Mercy Home Health, Curves-a woman’s fitness center, then Cornerstone Bible Church.
The location on two main streets in Fort Scott will be an advantage.
“We hope this location makes people more aware of the health department,” Alice Maffett, health department nurse, said.
Now the employees can serve the community in a larger and more visible building with services such as physicals, immunizations, pregnancy tests, family planning, Kan Be Healthy Screenings, blood pressure and blood glucose checks, hearing and vision screenings, SRS referrals, Sexually Transmitted Disease testing and treatment, and lab/blood draws.
The Public Health Department, located at 6th and Horton Street, Fort Scott.
Rebecca Johnson, BSN, RN is the administrator of SEKMCHD and her primary office will be in Fort Scott. Maffett is the Registered Nurse in Bourbon County and Kristi George is the administrative assistant.
A physical exam and current immunizations are required for entrance into kindergarten.
New this year in immunizations, is the state-required meningitis shots for 7th and 11th-grade students, Maffett said, which the department offers.
The WIC program will be utilizing the building and also available are breastfeeding classes.
The health department board is working to build community partnerships.
“It is a great building and we are looking for other community groups or agencies to utilize our conference room.
The conference room is approximately 25 feet by 16 feet and has an adjacent kitchenette for use, she said.
Dave and Jan Elliott will be offering Love and Logic Parenting classes in the future.
The health department board is also interested in exploring the option of telemedicine in the future, Johnson, said.
Another possibility in the future is to hire a Nurse Practitioner, Maffett said.
The hours of operation: Monday through Thursday from 7 a.m. to noon and 12:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. For more information: 620.223.4464. The fax number is 620.223.1686. or www.sekmchd.com
Governor Kelly Proclaims August “Breastfeeding Awareness Month”
In support of World Breastfeeding Week and National Breastfeeding Month
TOPEKA – At an official signing ceremony, Governor Laura Kelly proclaimed August “Breastfeeding Awareness Month” in Kansas. This proclamation recognizes the importance of breastfeeding for the health and wellbeing of Kansans.
“We are extremely pleased with Governor Kelly’s proclamation which highlights the importance of breastfeeding support for families in Kansas. This proclamation supports their decision and provides a foundation to build support for the policy and practice changes needed to build a landscape of breastfeeding support in our state.” said Brenda Bandy, Executive Director of the Kansas Breastfeeding Coalition (KBC).
“Kansas recognizes breastfeeding as a public health responsibility and priority,” said KDHE Secretary Lee Norman, MD. “Strides in improved breastfeeding rates have been possible through strong statewide partnerships and community collaboration. We will continue to promote and support breastfeeding as a way protect and improve the health of mothers and infants.”
More than 90 percent of families in Kansas choose to breastfeed. Yet despite its importance, only 31 percent of Kansas’ infants are exclusively breastfed during the critical first six months of life. Increased investment in breastfeeding could results in saving an estimated 22 women’s lives each year due to breast cancer, heart disease, diabetes and hypertension. Investing in breastfeeding could save the lives of seven children, due mostly to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). And finally, investing in breastfeeding would save Kansas more than $27 million in medical costs each year. [1]
Today’s proclamation stresses the role of every Kansan to make breastfeeding easier in our state. The Kansas Breastfeeding Coalition has suggested actions various groups and individuals can take to support breastfeeding in the “State of Breastfeeding in Kansas” available at http://ksbreastfeeding.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/stateofBFinKS.pdf.
Study area identified and drinking water testing opportunities available
More than 15 years ago data was collected by the Kansas Geological Survey (KGS) on the declining quality of groundwater in the Arkansas River region due to naturally occurring sources. The Kansas Water Office along with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and Kansas Department of Agriculture will be working with KGS and Groundwater Management District No. 3 in a two-year study to collect current, updated data in the areas adjacent to the river and surface irrigation canals in Hamilton, Kearny, Finney, Gray, and Ford counties in response to a legislative resolution passed this past 2019 session, Senate Resolution No. 1729.
In an effort to help update data, a study area has been identified and the state of Kansas is providing the opportunity for domestic well owners in those areas who use their well(s) for drinking water purposes to have their water tested for free. Test results will be provided back to the well owner and used in the broader study to determine overall regional groundwater quality. Please note, water from public water supply systems is routinely tested and meets all safe drinking water standards, and therefore is not included in this study.
The state is working with the five listed county health departments and conservation districts have water sampling kits available to private well owners. This will be a phased approach starting with Hamilton County, followed by Kearny, Finney, Gray and Ford. Those who use their well(s) for drinking water purposes are encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity to help update the water quality data in this study area. Participation in this study is voluntary.
Sample kits will be available beginning in Hamilton County on August 19 with the other counties to follow.
