The Okanogan County Board of Health has approved a 2018 fee schedule and budget for Public Health. Fees, which cover things like well-site evaluations, food-handler cards and birth certificates, haven’t changed at all. The budget includes an additional $30,000 to cover a transitional period because three long-time employees are expected to retire next year, said […]
Health
Children’s health program awaiting federal renewal
Almost 16,000 children in Washington state will lose their free health coverage if Congress doesn’t reauthorize the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which expired at the end of September.
By state law, CHIP provides free health insurance to all Washington children in families earning …
‘Stomach flu’ takes a heavy toll locally
A stomach flu bug has been traveling through the Methow Valley population over the past few weeks, affecting children and adults.
“We’re calling it gastroenteritis,” said Mistie Painter, a registered nurse at Family Health Centers in Twisp. “We’ve seen a variety of degrees of illness — some people with a little nausea …
Federal grants for health centers
Family Health Centers in Okanogan and Columbia Valley Community Health in Wenatchee have each received $175,700 grants from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to support increased access to substance abuse and mental health services. More than $4 million in similar grants will support health centers around the country to expand and integrate […]
Federal grant will support improved health care networking
Aero Methow Rescue Service recently was awarded a $100,000 grant by the federal Health Resources and Services Administration.
The Rural Health Network Development Planning Grant will enable Aero Methow to build a …
Aero Methow continually adapts to meet valley’s health care needs
Providing vital medical services for nearly 2,000 square miles of remote and rugged terrain, Aero Methow Rescue Service operates under unique conditions.
The nonprofit based in Twisp is almost …
Low immunization rate in Methow Valley district worries health officials
Immunization rates in the Methow Valley School District are among the lowest in the state, raising concerns among local health officials during this winter’s mumps outbreak, the state’s most serious in 50 years.
Almost 10 percent of the district’s 600 students are considered “at-risk” because they do not meet the required immunization schedule for …
Health officials urge immunization against mumps outbreak
Washington state is seeing the largest outbreak of mumps since the 1970s, with 533 cases as of Feb. 27, including one case confirmed in an adult in Okanogan County last week.
The largest number of cases, 235, are in Spokane County, closely followed by King County with 205, and Pierce with 54. …
New patient beds arrive at Three Rivers
Three Rivers Hospital is following through on its promise to invest in the facility when voters approved a levy lid lift last August, the hospital in Brewster said in a press release. The hospital celebrated the start of the new year with the arrival of 18 new patient beds, and more furniture will arrive within […]
New naturopathic physician in Twisp
Dr. Kayla Preece, a naturopathic physician, has established a new practice, Standing Pine Health Clinic, at the North Glover Healing Center in Twisp. Preece graduated from the National University of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon. Other health care-related fields Preece has practiced include massage therapy and midwifery. She grew up in rural Idaho. Her undergraduate […]
