MOUNT VERNON — The Dental Clinic at the Knox County Community Health Center continues to increase its staff size due to client demand for more dental services.
During Wednesday’s Knox County Board of Health meeting, a dental hygienist, Anna-Marie Magers, was hired and joins fellow dental hygienist Laura Nance at the clinic. They perform routine dental services such as teeth cleanings.
On Wednesday, the health board also approved a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with Aaron Lerg, DDS, of Danville, to serve as a peer reviewer who provides quality assurance work with dental patients. County Health Commissioner Julie Miller explained that the quality assurance work had previously been performed by Lerg’s dental partner, Thomas Glibert, DDS, who has retired from practice. The work essentially involves pulling dental patients’ records on a regular basis, and reviewing them to ensure that dental procedures are being performed with a high degree of quality, she said.
In other action Wednesday, the health board:
•Approved an on-going agreement with the Licking County Health Department for epidemiological services at a cost to Knox County of $11,000 per year. Miller said because Knox County’s population is not big enough to employ a full-time epidemiologist, it is necessary to contract for services with one from a nearby county under state law.
•Approved three MOAs — with Lifepoint Church, Feed the Vern and United Way — for them to provide nutritional support this summer to underserved Knox County youth. The MOAs are funded with Maternal and Child Health Grant funds. The agreements range from $3,150 to $5,000 and involve the three entities providing meals and nutrition-related educational services.
•Approved three MOAs of $4,000 each — with Mount Vernon Farmer’s Market, Yellowbird Food Shed, and Baker’s IGA — to have those entities implement the Produce Prescription Program between July 1 of this year and Feb. 28, 2020. The program is paid for through Creating Healthy Communities Grant funds. Miller said the program’s purpose is to compliment and enhance, where possible, prescription drugs with the addition of healthy food in the form of fruits and vegetables.
•Held a discussion about changing the name of the Knox County Community Health Center to a more concise name emphasizing the county’s overall public health mission — one possibility being Knox Public Health. Another possibility is a change to Knox County Public Health. Pam Palm, county health department spokesperson, said she has formed a work group to study possible names and get back to the health board with a recommendation. In Richland County, the entity is known as “Richland Public Health,” she said. However, some of the other public health entities within the region include the word “county,” such as Franklin County Public Health.
