Health Department Wants To Reach Out To More People

As the nation's attention is focused on solving the economic crisis, more people are turning to the Highlands County Health Department for primary medical care and youth dental care.

Even so, Robert Palussek, health department administrator, believes many people don't know of the health care services they can get from the agency.

"Some people have gotten used to the fact that they don't have any medical care and that's why they don't get it," he said. "We are here with services for more than the people we are seeing now."

Palussek and Derek Carlton, the department's health promotions and marketing supervisor, are planning targeted advertising and information campaigns to reach people who could, but are not, receiving services the department offers.

In order to put together effective campaigns, the health department will survey the county to determine people's knowledge of and perceptions about the health department.

In early April, a 10-question survey will be distributed at shopping centers and community events. Carlton and Palussek are hoping to tally surveys from 10,000 people, or 10 percent of the county's population.

"The survey is to get a snapshot of people's perceptions about the health department," Palussek said. "We need to know if there are misconceptions and stigmas. And maybe people have an educational deficit, they just don't know enough about us.

"What I'm trying to find out," he added, "is, where we have to put our efforts in order to achieve our mission, which is to promote and protect and improve the health of the people in Highlands County."

Carlton said some people mistakenly think the health department's primary mission is to treat and track sexually transmitted diseases, or to treat migrants without health insurance, or to regulate environmental issues such as septic tanks or private and public drinking water supplies.

Those are just a few of the department's roles, he said.

Primary medical care, and youth dental care (for ages six months to 20 years old) is offered at the Sebring and Lake Placid health department clinics, and will be offered at the Avon Park clinic that is scheduled to open in mid-April.

One of the department's primary missions is providing care for the uninsured and under-insured, Palussek said.

More people are falling into the under-insured category as some companies facing tough times are raising the deductibles and co-pays on employee health insurance or dropping major medical coverage, Carlton said.

As a result, he said, people may be putting off treatment or checkups and preventative steps that can prevent bigger medical problems in the future.

The under-insured may find the help they need at the health department, which accepts not only Medicaid and Medicare but also many private insurances, including Blue Cross Blue Shield.

"If people are under-insured, we assess what the insurance covers, and then, depending on their financial situation, they would be asked to contribute according to a sliding scale based on their income," Palussek said. "They might have a smaller out-of-pocket expense compared to if they were seen by a private physician."

Palussek stressed that the health department is not in competition with private sector doctors. The mission, he said, is to help provide care for people who, for whatever reason, don't have a "medical home" or can't afford care.

When people come to the health department for primary care, he said, "we might not get you all the specialist services and pay for everything. We will ask you for your fair share, based on your financial situation.

"We will tell you what's available, what the coverage that you get through us is, what other steps you should be taking, and link you to other services."

Dental care for children on Medicaid at the health department has nearly tripled over the past 15 months, and Carlton said that increase reflects not only more people in need but also an effective campaign getting information out to families eligible for this service.

For the 2006-07 fiscal year, the health department's dental clinics had 3,619 visits from children under Medicaid. For the past 2007-08 fiscal year, that number jumped to 8,964.

Carlton said the increase came on the heels of getting information into the hands of eligible parents, and the health department wants to make all of its services known to everybody who can use them.

Beyond primary medical and youth dental care, future campaigns also will get out information on free health promotions, such as the "Eight Steps To Wellness," a program of eight weekly one-hour classes promoting healthy lifestyles, and a program that provides diagnosis of diabetes and educates people on how to prevent or live with this disease.

Palussek said the survey will be "step one" toward making sure people who can use health department services will get them.

"Then we can start thinking about how we go about step two," he said. "Step two is deciding what is it that we're not doing, and what is it that we need to do, to market not only to our existing clientele.

"Because we are the health department for the entire county," he added, "we need to know how we can reach the population that is not being served so far."