Christine Stinson, newly hired administrator for the Marshall County Health Department told members of the Board of Health this week her plans to expand nursing services to the citizens.
There are several programs she would like to bring to the county including the availability of Narcan kits. Narcan is an opioid antagonist used for the complete or partial reversal of opioid overdose. Stinson said she will be applying for a state grant in conjunction with Starke County who has a higher incident rate of overdose.
The Health Department would like to get the Narcan kits into the hands of as many first responders as possible and identify the high risk area which would include the two residential motels in Plymouth. She noted that the Heath Nurse and County Coroner are both certified trainers for Narcan.
In that some area, Stinson would like to offer Hepatitis C testing and if a client tests positive be able to direct them to a medical office what would assist them with treatment.
Health Board member Dr. Craig Miller told her the local doctors don’t prescribe drugs for Hep C but he could help he contact a medical group that does work with positive cases and they come to Plymouth on a
regular basis.
Other testing the Health Department administrator wants to offer later on would be HIV testing along with Chlamydia and gonorrhea testing during STD clinics.
Although the Board of Health didn’t have a quorum to take action on agenda items they did get a chance to tour the new offices in the Community Resource Center.
The Marshall County Health Department will be moving into their new offices the end of January. They anticipate being closed for about a week to get organized.
