How are you celebrating National Public Health Week?

Apr. 7, 2025

By Mary Wade Burnside

Sure, maybe National Public Health Week isn’t on your radar, but what Monongalia County Health Department does for the community definitely is, even if some residents don’t realize it.
Have you dined out at a restaurant? A Monongalia County Health Department sanitarian inspected it, as well as the community’s tattoo studios, schools, pools, hotels, motels, vendors at WVU games, the Mon County Fair and more.
Have you picked up a box of naloxone or fentanyl testing strips at a Free Naloxone Day event? Most likely, that was organized by the Monongalia County Quick Response Team (QRT), which was organized by MCHD Threat Preparedness using grant funding.
And have you seen MCHD’s Smile Express mobile dentistry unit out and about? Or maybe your school-age child or a friend in recovery received treatment aboard the new, state-of-the-art dental office on wheels?
Some of the health department’s duties are even mandated by Chapter 16 of the West Virginia Code.
National Public Health Week, designated by the American Public Health Association, begins on Monday and lasts through Sunday, April 13.
Public health is important every day of the year, but this observance week is a good time to highlight MCHD’s work.
Monongalia County Health Department was established 95 years ago and we are gearing up to celebrate a centennial of helping to keep the community safe and informed in 2029.
We do this through six programs:
Environmental Health — Sanitarians train food handlers and certified pool operators, and, as noted above, inspect many businesses and institutions that serve the public. They also work to manage rabies by investigating reports and distributing oral vaccine rabies (ORV) baits. And sanitarians conduct radon testing, an important service in a county that has a high rate of high levels of radon — 1 in 5 homes compared to 1 in 15 homes nationally.
Clinical Services — Provides immunizations for infants, children, teens, adults and travelers — i.e., everybody — as well as free and low-cost birth control, low-cost sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing, free STI treatment and breast and cervical exams for women. Our public health nurses also can refer patients for mammograms.
MCHD WIC — Provides breastfeeding counseling and support to new mothers as well as nutritional education, supplements and food vouchers to pregnant, postpartum and breastfeeding women and children up to age 5 who qualify. MCHD WIC oversees this federal program in six counties: Monongalia, Preston, Marion, Harrison, Doddridge and Taylor.
MCHD Dentistry — This is the only full-service dental office in a health department in West Virginia. MCHD Dentistry offers general preventive dentistry as well as orthodontic (Invisalign), therapeutic (same-day crowns, dentures and implants, just to name a few), and cosmetic (Botox, chairside whitening, porcelain veneers and more). Plus, Smile Express has expanded its rounds from schoolchildren in five counties to patients at recovery centers.
Threat Preparedness — Conducts drills, provides training in CPR, Stop the Bleed, naloxone administration and more. Trains for and responds to crises caused by everything from bad weather to bad people. It’s also the home of the Quick Response Team, whose members work to reduce opioid use in the region.
Infection Control & Disease Prevention — MCHD combines its epidemiologists and contract tracers under one umbrella to provide consistent and cohesive coverage when it comes to preventing and managing communicable diseases.
Part of public health’s mission is communicating our offerings, and we do that in several ways. You can follow us on Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn, and check out our website at monchd.org.
So, to paraphrase Jerry Maguire — the lead character in the film of the same name — help us help you. Call the health department at 304-598-5100 and follow us on social media so you don’t miss important news that can impact your health. We’re here to serve.
Mary Wade Burnside is the public information officer at Monongalia County Health Department.