HEALTH NEWS

International Walk to School Day

Howie, the Health Department mascot, joined Thunder Hill Elementary School Students to celebrate International Walk to School Day on October 8, 2008

In the U.S., International Walk to School Day is expected to include 5,000 schools from all 50 states. Walkers from the U.S. will join children and adults in 40 countries around the world to create safer routes for walking and bicycling and emphasize the importance of issues such as increasing physical activity among children, pedestrian safety, traffic congestion, concern for the environment and building connections between families, schools and the broader community.

Healthy Howard Access Plan Announces Clinical Partners

The Healthy Howard Access Plan has finalized its diverse list of partners for the program which will be launching on October 1st. The Plan, unique in the country, will bring access to health care for up to 2,200 currently uninsured Howard Countians in its first year of operation.

Dr. Peter Beilenson, Howard County Health Officer, says “everyone talks about the need to expand access to affordable, comprehensive health care—now Howard County is doing something about it”.

The list of partners who will be providing clinical services to Healthy Howard participants include: Howard County General Hospital, Horizon Foundation, Chase Brexton Health Services (primary care—Columbia campus), HPV Heart (cardiology), Esposito, Mayer, Hogan and Associates (OB/GYN), Humanim (psychiatry), ProBono Counseling Project of Maryland (mental health counseling), Howard County Health Department (substance abuse treatment), American Radiology, Lorien Health (rehabilitation services), All Care of Maryland (urgent care), Maryland Oncology and Chesapeake Oncology and Hematology (oncology), Johns Hopkins Pathology and Emergency Medicine, LifeStar (ambulance service), Hopkins Health Care, LLC (third party administration), MedBank of Maryland, Aetna Vital Savings Program (dental discount network), Howard County Department of Citizen's Services, and Johns Hopkins Hospital. More partners will be added in the near future.

Final details of the Healthy Howard Access Plan will be announced at the enrollment kick-off press conference on October 1st, 2008 at 1 p.m. at the East Columbia Branch of the Howard County Library, located at 6600 Cradlerock Way Columbia, MD 21046.

WIC Program Recognized with a Honorary Resolution from the Howard County Council

The Month of September 2008 is officially Breast Feeding Promotion Month in Howard County. The resolution encourages all citizens to recognize the efforts of breastfeeding families, health professionals by providing support, encouragement, and help so mothers can succeed with breastfeeding.

Breast milk is widely acknowledged to be the most complete form of nutrition for infants; and the American Academy of Pediatrics considers breastfeeding to be “the ideal method of feeding and nurturing infants."

We know breastfeeding has many benefits for babies such as fostering optimal growth, promoting development of a baby’s brain and immune system, preventing common illnesses such as diarrhea, ear infections and infections of the respiratory and urinary tracts, and reducing the risk of being overweight during the later years of a child’s life.

Mothers also benefit from breastfeeding. It improves maternal health long after the postpartum period, including reduction in postpartum bleeding, earlier return to pre-pregnancy weight, reduced risk of premenopausal breast cancer, and reduced risk of osteoporosis.

Congratulations to the WIC program for their committment to keeping moms and their children healthy!

Click to read about the Howard County Health Department in the news!

Notice of Privacy Practices

The Howard County Health Department is committed to protecting the health information of all clients. In accordance with the HIPAA Privacy Rule, the following Notice of Privacy Practices is provided to all individuals that receive services from the Department.

Click here to view Privacy Practices (File is in RTF format, which can be opened in Microsoft Wordpad and most popular word processing packages.)