The Logan County Health District’s many community partnerships were highlighted during the board of health’s meeting this week, such as their involvement with First Fridays Bellefontaine activities, continuing with the St. Paddy’s Bar Crawl that takes place tonight, Saturday, March 15.
The bar crawl begins at 6 p.m., with check-in at Roundhouse Depot Brewing Company, 217 W. Chillicothe Ave., for ticketed patrons. The event continues until 11 p.m.
During the event, health district staff will be in attendance, handing out Test Before You Drink kits and highlighting several prevention efforts, including fire prevention, smoking and vaping risks and the “Talk. They Hear You” campaign to prevent underage drinking, Director of Community Outreach Megan Bailey noted.
The LCHD also will be giving away cookies with QR codes for the agency’s new wellness vending machine, which offers about a dozen items, free of charge, outside at the 310 S. Main St. office. The vending machine is accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
During the board education portion of the meeting, Bailey presented a recap of the Might Crow Equity Training that all staff members recently completed.
The session offered an overview of the agency’s strengths, with the presenter highlighting their numerous community outreach efforts and collaborations with other area agencies.
Bailey said nursing staff members visit Logan County Job and Family Services each month to offer blood pressure check and immunizations to interested clients.
Another recent community partnership includes working with several local senior centers to present “Bingocize” falls prevention education.
In addition, the Narcan training program has educated numerous individuals and employees around the county, including recent sessions at Job and Family Services and the Mac-A-Cheek Learning Center. During February, 33 people were trained in utilizing Narcan, and Bailey reported there also were two known opioid reversals last month as well.
The Mighty Crow presenter praised the health district staff for being “creative communicators,” “meeting people where they’re at” and for gaining the trust of the public through their community engagement.
“We are passionate about helping people,” Bailey said. “We also have very strong community partners, where it’s a two-way relationship and we look at what we can do to help each other.”
Opportunities for improvement identified during the training include combating the stigma around harm reduction services and continuing to find creative ways to reach people where they’re at. Bailey said the staff want to develop a podcast to explore various health topics and to utilize the LCHD’s YouTube channel that was first set up during the COVID pandemic.
In other matters, Logan County Health Commissioner Travis Irvan provided an update on the recent child fatality review board that examined the three child deaths during 2024 in the county.
He said one of the deaths was a drowning, one was related to a car accident and the final death was a suicide.
The child fatality review board has since been in contact with the area school districts to encourage continued suicide prevention efforts. Irvan noted that youths have good resources and mentors to help them during the school year, but the summertime can pose a gap in services.
For school-age youths and adults alike, the health commissioner related that the suicide and crisis lifeline is available 24/7 throughout the year by simply texting 988.
In addition, the health district is exploring grant funding options for drowning prevention efforts.
During the nursing report, Irvan and Nursing Director Lee Watts shared an update about local influenza cases, noting 22 county residents have been hospitalized thus far for the 2024-25 flu season. There also has been one influenza-related death in Logan County in an adult patient.
Irvan said at last month’s meeting that this is one of the worst years for influenza that we have seen regionally in the last 15 years. Watts noted that it has been especially bad this year with cases of influenza a.
In other action, the board:
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Approved the preliminary 2026 budget, along with the 2024 financial report prepared by accounting firm REA Associates;
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Accepted the resignation of emergency preparedness coordinator Heather Kean, and hired Cole Harbour to fill the position, effective March 31;
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Approved the hire of environmental clerical/deputy registrar Chelyene Price;
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Approved the yearly medical director renewal with Dr. Nicholas Morton;
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Approved the yearly renewal for cleaning services with Bertha Kauffman;
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Issued an order to Mickey Francis Oakley of Anna for a property at 10968 Walnut St., Lakeview, which has a manufactured home unfit for human habitation, including but not limited to: floors caving in, no running water and non-functioning plumbing, accumulation of solid waste and human feces on the floors throughout the home, to remove the manufactured home and all solid wastes to a licensed facility within 30 days; and
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Approved a well variance request for Jason Hanley for a property at 9302 Maple Lane, Belle Center.
The LCHD’s District Advisory Council meets for their yearly session at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 20, at the Ohio Hi-Point Career Center.
The next regular health board meeting is 1 p.m. Wednesday, April 9.