Cole County Health Department celebrates milestone anniversary

Keeping residents healthy for 100 years

For 100 years, the mission of the Cole County Health Department has been to promote and assure health, safety and quality of life for citizens.
To mark this historic occasion, the Live to Be 100 Fun Run/Walk, with a fitness event for area children, will be  9-11 a.m. Aug. 13. The run will begin at 9 a.m. and the walk at 9:05 a.m., and participants will have the choice of a 1- or 3-mile trek through downtown Jefferson City. Participants will be eligible for prizes.
Also, children will be invited to participate in 10 fitness stations where they will do 10 repetitions of an exercise. Once they achieve 100 reps and get their card marked at each station, their card will be put into a drawing for prizes. These stations will be located in the parking lot behind the Cole County Courthouse and Annex. Proceeds from the event will benefit the United Way of Central Missouri.
Registration for adults is $25 prior to the event and $30 on the day of the event. Children ages 12 and under may participate for free. But if they want a T-shirt, it's $10 in advance or $15 on the day of the event.
Those registering before Aug. 1 are guaranteed a T-shirt and swag bag. Registration can be made in person at the health department on Industrial Drive, or you can mail a registration form and the fees to: Cole County Health Department; Attn: Live to be 100; 1616 Industrial Drive, Jefferson City, 65109.
Packet pickup is recommended from 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Aug. 12 at the health department.
The Cole County Health Department's history is deeply entwined in the Jefferson City Council of Clubs and its history.
In 1916, a group of women belonging to six different clubs met to look at the needs in the community and  explore the formation of an umbrella organization of clubs; hence the Council of Clubs was formed. The group also determined a nurse should be selected to serve the community. They felt this nurse would need transportation to enable her to visit all of the area so the ladies of the club presented "Fifi," an operetta, in order to raise money to purchase the first car to be used by the nurse.
In the 1940s, the council established the prenatal clinic in the Washington Park Baptist Mission; endorsed pre-marital blood testing, which was then before the Legislature; purchased a new car for the community nurse and set up the well-baby clinic in the county courthouse.
From 1957-66, the council continued its support by purchasing a new car in 1962. The council paid for one nurse's salary at $375 per month, purchased and maintained the care of the nurse's car, and purchased medicines, drug and other incidentals.
The council's sponsorship of the health department was discontinued at the end of 1974 when the department came under the auspices of the County Commission.
In 1916, the Community Nurse Program received $50 per month from the county.
Today, the Health Department has 25 employees divided into three divisions: clinical services; WIC and nutrition services; and environmental public health services involving public health nurses, environmental public health specialists, a compliance officer, registered dietitians, nutritionists, breast feeding peer counselors, lactation consultants, a case manager, an epidemiologist, a planner and support staff serving a county with a population of more than 76,000 residents and a budget of more than $1.4 million. In a typical month, CCHD serves approximately 2,000 clients.
The CCHD's services include:
Immunizations for adults and children as well as breast exams.
Birth control/contraceptive counseling and reproductive health education for women with Medicaid or to women with no health insurance.
Safe Crib Program offering free cribs to families that cannot provide a safe place for their baby to sleep.
Women's, Infants and Children Program (WIC). The special supplemental nutrition program which provides services to pregnant women, new mothers, infants and children up to their 5th birthday based on nutritional risk and income eligibility.
Health education - informing residents of health risk factors and assessing, planning, implementing, promoting and evaluating health risk reduction strategies through wellness programs and community wellness promotion. They also have a number of trained professionals who are available to talk to groups on a variety of topics for no cost.
Inspecting the retail food and child care establishments in Cole County, responding to truck wrecks or natural disasters involving food, inspecting the lodging facilities in Jefferson City and Cole County, regulating the on-site sewage systems installed in the county and enforcing the nuisance ordinance in the county.
Monitoring the communicable disease rates in the county and investigating and responding to communicable disease outbreaks.
Provide residents with an original copy of a birth or death certificate.
More information about health department services is available online at colecountyhealth.org.