It’s Been 9 Months. How’s Our New Health Department Doing?

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The leadership of Delaware County's new health department
Image via delcopa.gov.
The leadership of Delaware County's new health department.

The Delaware County Health Department (DCHD) is less than a year old, having opened April 2, 2022, but it has managed to build up a list of accomplishments in its nine months of operation under the direction of Melissa Lyon.

 “Everyone has had challenging moments, building a Health Department from the ground up is a daring endeavor. The staff here is the most courageous and dedicated group I know,” she said.

Here is a month-to-month round-up of accomplishments.

April 2022

Delaware County Wellness Line Began Operations

The Delaware County Wellness Line intake call center has fielded more than 6,906 calls since April 2022.

Many residents have reached out to the Wellness Line team in times of need and during times of fear and uncertainty during the pandemic.

Its primary intent is to handle non-urgent inquiries from residents.

The Wellness Line also responds to email inquiries.

Licensing and Inspection of Businesses

The Health Department’s Environmental Division began visiting businesses for licensing and inspections in 42 municipalities in Delaware County.

The Environmental Health Division is responsible for the prevention of human injury and illness, the promotion of a healthy environment, and protecting the community from environmental hazards.

The department prevents, minimizes, and contains adverse health events and conditions resulting from communicable diseases like food, water, vectorborne outbreaks, chronic disease, environmental hazards, injuries, and health disparities.

The team has conducted almost 4,000 inspections since April.

May 2022

DCHD Formally Assumes Primary COVID-19 Vaccination Operations

Previously, vaccination services were conducted at the Watkins Avenue Senior Center in Upper  Darby, and the Keystone First Wellness and Opportunity Center in Chester.

This month marked the relocation of all county-run vaccinations to the Health Department’s new clinical locations: the Delaware Cunty Wellness Center in Yeadon and the DCHD-Chester Clinic in Chester. 

Since 2021, the County has administered 172,615 COVID-19 vaccine doses as of the end of November. 2022.

June 2022

DCHD and Personic Health Care Open COVID-19 Testing Site in Yeadon

In an effort to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 testing during a time of surging positive cases, the Delaware County Health Department partnered with Personic Health Care, a local  Springfield-based health provider, to open a new outdoor, community testing site at the Delaware  County Wellness Center at Yeadon. This partnership remains and has plans to expand beyond COVID-19 testing in 2023.

August 2022

DCHD Wellness Center in Yeadon Becomes Fully Operational

The Wellness Center had primarily operated as a robust and busy COVID-19 community vaccination site as well as COVID-19 testing location.

Starting in April and fully functioning by August, it began operating public health clinics that work to prevent the spread of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, HIV, and sexually transmitted infections (STI).

It was also necessary to begin operating broader vaccination clinics for the uninsured and underinsured clients through the Free Vaccine for Children (VFC) program and adult immunization program.

There is also a team of disease intervention specialists and epidemiology staff that work to prevent the spread of reportable infectious and communicable diseases such as Salmonellosis, Hepatitis, measles, chicken pox,  influenza, etc.

Environmental Health Inspection Management System (IMS) Database Deployed

The Health Department implemented its data processing system that allows tracking of  accurate documentation and records for most of the services the Health Department provides. This allows DCHD to easily track monies, applications, licensing, inspection, staff workload, and other efficiency functions.

September 2022

Epidemiology Team Develops Plans for the First County-Wide Community Health Need Assessment

The Community Health Assessment is a report that captures data and analysis of information that demonstrates the state of the health of Delaware County.

This document is a pillar for which all public health work will be prioritized. The framework is established, and the work will commence in early 2023.

October 2022

Epidemiology Team Develops First County and Municipality Level Childhood Lead Poisoning Report

This is the Delaware County Health Department (DCHD)’s first childhood lead surveillance report. This report is provided as a source of information for the public, healthcare providers, and other organizations and individuals interested in childhood lead poisoning burden and prevention in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The report can be found here.

Successful Transition of the West Nile Virus Program into the DCHD Environmental Division

The Environmental Health Division scaled up staffing and training to smoothly transition the team into the division without interrupting the program’s operations and services to the community.

November 2022

Pregnancy Testing Availability Launched at County Clinical Offices

The Delaware County Health Department began offering no-cost pregnancy testing (urine testing only) to Delaware County women, at the Delaware County Wellness Centers in Yeadon and Chester. Women of all ages are welcome, and no insurance or ID is required. Results are provided immediately and are strictly confidential.  

DCHD Kicked Off School Nurse Preparedness and Support Program

This grant-funded program supports school nurses in school districts that were selected to participate. This program is designed to build capacity and strengthen the public health role of nurses in the public school system.

See the entire health department review here.

Check out this brief promotional video for the Delaware County Health Department.

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