National Public Health Week, April 3-9, is an opportunity for North Central Public Health District (NCPHD) to highlight new programs to protect public health, as well as the many things we’ve always done to keep our communities safe.
New this year is a free tobacco cessation program, available to any member of the public age 18 or older. It offers not only free cessation counseling, but also free nicotine replacement therapy, such as gum, lozenges or patches. Check it out and sign yourself up at https://www.ncphd.org/tobacco-programs, or call 541-506-2609, or email [email protected] to sign up.
“We’re excited to be able to offer this new free service to our communities,” said Shellie Campbell, Director of NCPHD. “It’s been shown to be effective. People who use both cessation counseling and nicotine replacement therapy have a 25 percent higher quit rate than people who don’t.”
NCPHD, serving Wasco and Sherman counties, is also doing the little-seen work that helps keep our drinking water, public pools and restaurants safe.
More critical behind the scenes work includes preparing NCPHD itself to respond to public health emergencies, which can range from wildfire smoke response to years-long pandemics. Our emergency preparedness and communicable disease staff works with community partners at preventing disease and reducing death rates in the event of an emergency or disaster.
NCPHD staff are perhaps best known as providers of immunizations to kids and adults, and for our WIC program, which provides nutrition help to new moms and kids up to age 5.
We also have several nurse home visiting programs. Babies First is for expectant moms and parents with kids up to age 5. Our nurses visit families at their homes and provide advice and resources to help moms be the best parent they can be! Our CaCoon program helps families of children up to age 21 with disabilities to help connect them to needed services.
We also offer reproductive health services for men and women. This includes testing and treatments for sexually transmitted diseases, and services to help people who are either seeking or avoiding pregnancy.
(For more information, please contact North Central Public Health District at (541) 506-2600, visit us on the web at www.ncphd.org or find us on Facebook.)
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