RECENT NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
Pickens County Health Department provides all State Health Requirements for School Students!
Prepare your child for the upcoming school year. The Pickens County Health Department will conduct a Back-to-School Bash Health Clinic on Tuesday, July 19th from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. The health department is located at 60 Health Way in Jasper. This is the One-Stop Spot for school students’ state health requirements. The clinic is offering required Hearing, Dental, Vision and BMI/Nutrition Screenings and providing Immunizations for school-age children. The clinic is accepting Medicaid (including AmeriGroup, PeachState and WellCare) and PeachCare for Kids. For more information or to check on additional insurances accepted, please call (706) 253-2821.
Published by CDC on June 6, 2013: A message from Dr. Robin Ikeda, Acting Director of CDC's National Center for Environmental Health, on how you can prevent heat-related illnesses and deaths by staying cool, hydrated and informed.
One-Stop Spot for School Students’ State Health Requirements on July 26
Is your child ready for the upcoming school year? The Cherokee County Health Department is conducting a Back-to-School Health Clinic on Tuesday, July 26th from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at public health department locations in both Canton and Woodstock. The required Hearing, Dental, Vision and BMI/Nutrition Screenings will be available: Total cost for screenings is fifty dollars. Also, immunizations will be provided for school-age children for $21.90, each (for uninsured or underinsured). Medicaid (including AmeriGroup, PeachState and WellCare), PeachCare for Kids, HUMANA, AETNA, United Health Care, Blue Cross/Blue Shield (immunizations, only), CIGNA and Coventry are accepted. The health department location in Canton is1219 Univeter Road and the address in Woodstock is 7545 North Main Street. For more information, please call (770) 345-7371 in Canton or (770) 928-0133 in Woodstock.
Get the Facts. Get Tested. Get Involved.
National HIV Testing Day is June 27
Dalton (GA) – National HIV Testing Day is Monday, June 27, and North Georgia Health District 1-2 of the Georgia Department of Public Health is continuing to remind people of all ages to get the facts, get tested and get involved in taking care of themselves and their loved ones.
The health district will provide free rapid HIV and Hepatitis C testing on June 27 from 8:30 A.M. to 3:30 P.M. in the Whitfield County Health Department at 800 Professional Boulevard in Dalton. Free prevention supplies will be available along with HIV and Hepatitis C related information.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an estimated 1.2 million people in the United States are living with HIV, and that number grows by almost 50,000 every year. One in eight people who have HIV are unaware of it. Therefore, they are not getting the medical care they need to stay healthy and avoid passing HIV to others.
Getting tested is the first step to finding out if you have HIV. If you have HIV, getting medical care and taking medicines regularly helps you live a longer, healthier life and also lowers the chances of passing HIV on to others.
For more information about the free rapid HIV and Hepatitis C testing event in Dalton on June 27, call (706) 281-2360. Information regarding National HIV Testing Day and Hepatitis C is available on the CDC website at www.cdc.gov.
Gilmer County Health Department presents
BACK-TO-SCHOOL HEALTH CLINIC June 28 & July 26!
Are your children ready for the upcoming school year? Bring them to Gilmer County Health Department’s Back-to-School Health Clinic any time on Tuesday, June 28th or Tuesday, July 26th from 7:30 AM to 6:30 PM. The clinic will be held at the health department facility at 28 Southside Church Street in Ellijay. It’s the one-stop-spot for schools’ state health requirements. Required Hearing, Dental, Vision and BMI/Nutrition Screenings as well as Immunizations will be available for school-age children. Medicaid (including Americgroup, Peachstate and Wellcare), Peachcare for Kids, HUMANA, AETNA, United Health Care, Blue Cross/Blue Shield (immunizations, only), CIGNA and Coventry will be accepted. For more information, call (706) 635-4363.
ELLIJAY, GA – New cots and a trailer to house and transport them will enable emergency responders to shelter more residents in times of disaster in Gilmer County.
Dalton (GA) – The North Georgia Health District is now accepting appointments for its new Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) program. The program is designed for people who are not HIV positive, but are at high risk of exposure to HIV and acquiring the infection.
PrEP consists of a single pill, containing two active medications, taken every day. This pill helps keep the virus from infecting an individual who is HIV negative but is exposed to HIV through sex or injection drug use. The pill can also be used as part of a treatment regimen for those who already are HIV positive.
PrEP is an HIV intervention tool and used as part of a comprehensive sexual plan. When used with condoms and other prevention methods, it provides the best defense against HIV infection. People who use PrEP must commit to taking the drug every day and seeing their health care provider for follow-up every three months.
To participate in the program, individuals should contact the North Georgia Health District PrEP Program at 706-281-2360 to schedule an appointment with the benefit coordinator. Clients will need proof of residency, proof of income and proof of insurance.
The clinic is located at 800 Professional Boulevard in Dalton, Georgia and is open Monday through Thursday from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
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Additional Information:
AID Atlanta HIV/STD INFO LINE: 1-800-551-2728 or 404-876-9944
PrEPLine: 1-855-448-7737
DPH PrEP Toolkit: dph ga prep toolkit
CDC PrEP fact sheet: http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pdf/prevention_prep_factsheet.pdf
North GA – The North Georgia Health District of the Georgia Department of Public Health is joining the statewide public health campaign in urging residents to clean up around their homes, their yards and their communities and discard unnecessary items that can hold water. TIP 'N TOSS after every rainfall to reduce the number of mosquitoes and prevent the spread of Zika virus in North Georgia.
Mosquitoes do not recognize property lines, so controlling their numbers has to be a collaborative effort among neighbors. Public health is increasing mosquito surveillance and educating residents, but the greatest impact will be when individuals take personal responsibility for their homes, yards and communities.
Dalton (GA) - Spring has sprung and residents should now spring into action to prepare for the potential weather hazards that often come with the season.
County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) officials want to reach all county residents any time emergency weather warnings must be issued. Therefore, as part of the local community preparedness activities of the annual FEMA America’s PrepareAthon! Campaign this year, Whitfield County EMA will conduct a PrepareAthon! Telethon on Wednesday, April 27 from 10 AM to 3 PM.
The telethon will focus on urging local residents to either register or update their existing contact information in the CodeRED© Mass Notification System so they will receive critical communications and timely severe weather notifications from public safety officials. County residents may call (706) 259-3730 or log onto http://www.whitfieldcountyga.com/ema/ema.htm.
WDEF News 12 will have live shots of telethon preparation early Wednesday morningon This Morning News, and North Georgia Radio Group’s Mixx 104.5 FM will feature the telethon on the air that day at 11:30 AM.
In addition to the telethon, there will be weather radio giveaways during a live remote on Mixx 104.5 FM on Thursday, April 28th from 4 PM to 6 PM at the Mack Gaston Community Center.
“It’s clear that the ability to receive timely, local weather warnings can be a crucial, life-saving measure,” said Amy Cooley of Whitfield County EMA. “There were 16,135 people who took part in our PrepareAthon! activities last year and they are now better prepared for disasters. We want all Whitfield County to be prepared so we encourage residents to help us beat that number this year.”
Between 1990 and 2014, Whitfield County experienced two tornadoes, 82 weather events involving high winds, nine floods, 14 flash floods, and 21 winter weather events that caused moderate to severe disruption and an estimated $6.5 million of property damage in the affected communities.
Whitfield County's PrepareAthon! is a campaign for action to increase community emergency preparedness and resilience through drills, group discussions, and exercises. The goal of Whitfield County's PrepareAthon! is simple: Build a more resilient community by increasing the number of individuals who understand which disasters could happen in their community, know what to do to be safe and mitigate damage, take action to increase their preparedness, and participate in community resilience planning.
We want to hear about your participation in Whitfield County's PrepareAthon!
You can register your participation in Whitfield County's PrepareAthon! as an individual or family, or on behalf of an organization, such as a workplace, school, or church by loging onto:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WhitfieldCountyPrepareAthonSpring2016