The staff pictured are from left to right, are Carol Henson, Melissa Machado, Michelle Holland, Audrey Anderson, Charlene Nunley, Shelia Stephenson, Teena Myers, Gail Benton, and Vicki Carr.
Sequatchie County Health Department set a goal of making sure children in the county received their Early Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment (EPSDT) or well-child exams.
Vicki Carr, TennCare outreach coordinator, said, “EPSDT exams are so important because many health problems can go undetected without a complete well-child exam.” Because the staff believes so strongly in the value of prevention, they developed a plan to increase the percentage of patients receiving their exams. Thanks to hard work from the staff, EPSDT screenings at Sequatchie County Health Department, went up more than 60 percent above their goal.
Carol Henson, nursing supervisor with the health department regularly reviews patient records. If patients have missed appointments, she sends letters to remind them about immunizations and EPSDT exams. As she reviews the charts, she marks the patient registration screens so that the Public Health Office Assistants know to make an appointment for the appropriate services when the patients call the Health Department.
Sequatchie County was chosen out of 11 health department sites by the Southeast Regional Office to receive the annual Award for Outstanding Achievement in providing EPSDT services in 2011. To honor the staff, which includes Carol Henson, R.N., Michelle Holland, R.N., Chaddy Thompson, R.N., Melissa Machado, N.A., Shelia Stephens, PHOA, and Audrey Anderson, PHOS, the Southeast Regional TENNderCare staff prepared a luncheon for them. They also had a lunch with the Southeast Regional Director Glenn Czarnecki and the County Director Charlene Nunley to celebrate their achievement and share their ideas for improving health department services.
Ms. Nunley said, “The staff at Sequatchie County Health Department is very dedicated and always seeking ways to improve the health of Sequatchie County residents.”
For more information about health department services, call the Sequatchie County Health Department at 949-3619. The hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and the health department is at 16939 Rankin Avenue in Dunlap.