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Charlotte Amalie
Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeNewsArchivesFeds Visit V.I. Health Facilities

Feds Visit V.I. Health Facilities

The V.I. Health Department hosted the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials for a two-day site visit at the Charles Harwood Complex this week, according to the territorial department. The feds conducted an onsite tour and visits of many of Health divisions offering clinical services to the public, met with staff and held videoconference sessions with personnel on St. Thomas.

“The partnership and collaboration fostered by HHS and ASTHO is a valuable asset for territorial public health officers, leadership and the affected public health agencies,” Health Commissioner Darice Plaskett said in a statement. Plaskett said she was very appreciative of the level of support and ongoing technical assistance those agencies are providing the Health Department.

On Friday officials gave updates on Medicaid expansion and rebranding, mental health program development, system opportunities for consolidation and how to strengthen the territorial hospital system. Plaskett gave an overview of work to put in place electronic health records, a health information exchange, the upcoming central cancer registry and deploying new mobile medical vans in each district. The federal team saw the medical vans in action at the Rudolph Schulterbrandt Agricultural Station on St. Croix this week, giving blood pressure checks and preventative health screenings in privacy in the clinical exam rooms aboard the van.

ASTHO representatives Katie Sellers and Alison Mendoza-Walters also offered funding to support a public health consultant to help territorial epidemiologist Esther Ellis develop a public health laboratory.

The lab could potentially handle initial screening and testing of public health surveillance testing and an information technology position to assist IT Director Kevin Hodge, according to the Health Department.

Dr. Michelle Davis, the HHS regional health administrator, was on hand to receive an update and review on progress towards a 20/20 territorial health plan. HHS and the Office of Minority Health visited in the fall of 2013 to determine what unique health objectives were of utmost important in our community and help the V.I. Health Department with public presentations on the “10 Essential Public Health Functions” that all state departments of health are required to comply with. As a result of that visit, HHS has provided funding to contract services for the development of the 20/20 plan.

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