EEDC hosts Unity Potluck

Our Employee Equity & Diversity Committee hosted its annual Diversity Potluck today, with staff bringing dishes and desserts representing their heritage and culture. We sampled food from all across the globe, listened to music spanning several countries and used stickers to note all the places we’ve visited. Public health stresses the importance of diversity and equality in providing health equity to the community!

Special thanks to the EEDC: Virginia Glasper, Ruben Perez, Marressa Starks-Baker, Matthew Bone, Beth Stroupe, Mirlleth Zapata, Cory Rutledge, Sandra Lilly, Catherine Lowe, Heather Toews, Lynnsey McGarrh, Laura Foley, Michelle Donaghy and Estephany Romero!

Overdose Awareness Day 2018

 

Some LFCHD staff spent Saturday morning at Jacobson Park for Voices of Hope’s annual Overdose Awareness Day event. Our team provided 25 hepatitis A vaccinations for the community at the event!

Hepatitis A is a liver disease that can easily be passed from person to person and can be spread through close contact with someone infected with it. We encourage you to talk to your medical provider about getting the hepatitis A vaccine.

Behind the scenes: restaurant inspections

WKYT recently joined Danielle Wells on a restaurant inspection to get a look behind the scenes at our Environmental Health team is helping Lexington be well. Our inspectors visit Lexington’s 1,500-plus food establishments at least twice a year (among other duties!) to help prevent foodborne illnesses by making sure restaurants are up to the proper standards and are following regulations.

You can watch WKYT’s report here: LFCHD restaurant inspections!

Welcome new employees!

Please take a moment to welcome the newest employees of the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department.

Lindsey K. Todd
Team Leader Nurse Specialist PH Clinic

First day of classes for School Health!

Some of our School Health nurses sent selfies from the first day of school in Fayette County, and we are ready to help students of all ages! Last year, our School Health nurses saw more than 44,000 visits to their health offices, helping Lexington be well by treating acute and chronic illness, health conditions, and injuries, health education, and disease prevention! We wish a safe and healthy school year to all the students, faculty, staff and nurses in Lexington!

You can find it here on Facebook; please consider sharing it with your family and friends!

National Immunization Awareness Month: School Health

Classes start back Aug. 15 in Lexington, and our School Health nurses are celebrating National Immunization Awareness Month by making sure your kids have all the vaccinations required to enter school in Kentucky!

One of the most important things a parent can do to protect their child’s health is getting their child vaccinated according to the recommended immunization schedule. Whether parents have a baby starting at a new child care facility, a toddler heading to preschool, a student going back to elementary, middle or high school – or even a college freshman – parents should check their child’s vaccination records.

Child care facilities, preschool programs, schools and colleges are prone to disease outbreaks. Children in these settings can easily spread illnesses to one another due to poor hand washing, not covering their coughs and sneezes and other factors related to interacting in crowded environments.

National Immunization Awareness Month

August is National Immunization Awareness Month, and we encourage you to make sure you are up to date on all your recommended vaccines! Our Public Health Clinic team works daily helping Lexington be well by providing vaccinations to those who need them! Call them at 859-288-2483 to make an appointment!

Vaccines are among the most successful and cost-effective public health tools available for preventing disease and death. In the United States, vaccines have greatly reduced infectious diseases that once routinely killed or harmed many infants, children, and adults. However, the viruses and bacteria that cause vaccine-preventable disease and death still exist and can be passed on to people who are not protected by vaccines.

Among children born during 1994-2013, vaccination will prevent an estimated 322 million illnesses, 21 million hospitalizations, and 732,000 deaths over the course of their lifetimes. Vaccination is important because it not only protects the person receiving the vaccine, but also helps prevent the spread of certain diseases, especially to those that are most vulnerable to serious complications, such as infants and young children, elderly, and those with chronic conditions and weakened immune systems.

Think Green, Do Green

We often do not take the time to think about the impact of an environmentally friendly workforce. Your LFCHD Green Team is always looking for ways to incorporate less waste and more conscientious ways to recycle. If you would like to be a Green Team member, please join us any 4^th Wednesday of the month at 650 Newtown Pike Training Room. We welcome and value your input!

Here are just a few ways Going Green makes a lasting impact:

• Monetary Savings: reduced waste means reduced costs.
• Protect the Environment: for every ton of paper recycled, 7,000 gallons of water and 17 trees are saved, reports the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
• Energy Savings: saving energy is both financial and environmental savvy.
• Less Need for Strip Mining: recycling things like old computers that contain precious metals, can reduce the need for environmentally damaging strip mining.
• Job Creation: 8,174 jobs created by the recycling industry in Kentucky.
• Improved Company Image: recycling in the office can boost morale and increase individuals’ efforts at home.

From your Green Team, please take the time to properly recycle throughout your day.

World Breastfeeding Week

World Breastfeeding Week starts today with a theme of “Foundation of Life.” We want to hear from you – share your breastfeeding experience to be included with the building blocks on the hallway in our WIC clinics at 650 Newtown Pike and 2433 Regency Road! Breastfeeding is a universal solution that levels the playing field, giving everyone a fair start in life. It improves the health, well-being and survival of women and children around the world. To learn more about our breastfeeding program, please call ext. 2348!

If you’re on social media, be sure to share our post so we can get more responses from the community. You can find it here on Facebook!