Benton County, Oregon

Making Benton County a Better Place to Live

Benton County Health Department – Achievements

Environmental Health • Health Management Services Division • Mental Health Division • Public Health Division

See the Benton County Health Department 2006 achievements by division using the links above, or see details about the department as a whole in our 2007 Annual Report (PDF).

Environmental Health

On-site Sewage Treatment:
  • Processed a record number of Septic Feasibilities (82) and Permits (181) for the second year in a row for subdivisions, land partitions, and individual lots. This includes septic installations, repairs, & alterations, septic complaints, and building permit review.
  • Environmental Health staff work with property owners and the community to address failing septic systems that posed a threat to public health and surface and ground water sources in Thornton Lake, Pamela Acres, and Wishram Avenue.
  • Established monitoring program for Firview Subdivision previously denied by both Benton County and DEQ.
  • Implemented Holding Tank Program (OAR 340-71-340) previously administered by the DEQ. Completed and sent notification letters to current holding tank owners.
  • Implemented Alternative Treatment Technology (ATT) rule created by DEQ to provide alternative pre-treatment products for on-site sewage disposal systems. Environmental Health onsite sewage treatment staff has been attending training throughout the year on ATTs that have been approved by DEQ.
  • Held public meeting to discuss failing community septic system serving 6 residences on Wishram Drive and Eagleview Drive in North Albany.
  • Initiated discussions with county staff and Oregon Water Resources to amend Benton County Development Code (99.805).
  • Averted health hazards from failing septic systems in difficult sites with financial difficulties or limited area to repair their systems in the following areas of the County:

o Lobster Valley
o Old Peak Road
o West Hills Road
o 35th Street
o Alsea Highway

Department of Human Services Delegated Programs:

  • The Phoenix data system has been upgraded with enhancements that will allow for better tracking of inspections performed in food establishments, swimming pools and spas, tourist accommodations, and organizational camps.
  • All licensed facility inspections that include restaurants, swimming pools and spas, tourist accommodations, and organization camps were completed in 2006.
  • Completed all temporary food inspections. Significant events included Oregon State University games, Da Vinci Days, Red, White and Blues Festival, Benton Count Fair to name a few.
  • Environmental Health passed an audit by the DHS Food Borne Illness and Protection Program. All corrective actions were completed and approved.
  • Senior food protection staff has successfully completed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration/Oregon Department of Health's Certified Food Standardization Officer's program. In order to participate in this program, a Licensed Environmental Health Specialist must complete an FDA approved course of self-study and be approved by the Deputy Administrator for Benton County Environmental Health that they are ready for certification.
  • Environmental Health staff met with Scott Stoller, the new Benton County Fair Manager, to coordinate Environmental Health's involvement at the 2006 County Fair. Topics discussed included coordination with EH when processing food vendors, food licensing requirements, and hand washing at animal and reptile exhibits to control zoonotic disease transmission.
  • Completed all public water systems surveys that were due in 2004 through 2006. EH is now current with all water systems in the county.
  • Work closely with public water system operators to assess water quality problems with significant deficiencies.
    • Nebergall Loop Public water system complaint and water outbreak investigation. (Recently obtained plan approval to install new treatment)
    • Pioneer Community Public Water System (recently obtain plan review to install a continuous chlorinator)

Other Inspections:

  • At the request of the Benton County Sheriff's Department completed an inspection of the Benton County Jail.
  • All contract food inspection at Oregon State University was completed.

Solid Waste Program:

  • Benton County Environmental Health along with County Counsel's Office pursued cleanup enforcement of a junk yard in North Benton County. After having worked with the property owner to get the property cleaned up without significant results, the County has made the decision to gain compliance through the courts.
  • Benton County Environmental Health along with the Board of Commissioner's Office arranged funding for a spring cleanup event in Alsea, Benton Furniture Share, and Benton Habitat for Humanity used building materials resale store, and the Corvallis Environmental Center's resource efficiency program.
  • Continued discussions with Oregon Emergency Management (OEM) regarding a disaster debris management forum in January 2006 to be hosted by the Oregon SWANA chapter. Met with OEM, FEMA, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to discuss forum content and agenda.
  • Completed 2005 “Opportunity to Recycle Report” for DEQ.
  • Environmental Health staff have been meeting with the Board of Commissioner's and the Environmental Issues Advisory Committee on recovery and recycling of electronic waste.
  • Valley Landfills, Inc. presented the 2006 Operations and Capacity report to Benton County and SWAC.
  • Allied Waste of Corvallis and Allied Waste of Albany-Lebanon submitted a rate increase requests that were reviewed by the Solid Waste Advisory Council (SWAC) and approved by the Benton County Board of Commissioners.
  • Environmental Health staff responded to hazardous waste complaints and referred to DEQ (Dumping of paint and solvents near Highway 20 across from Willamette River.

Communicable Disease Outbreak Investigations:

  • Environmental Health assisted during a Norovirus outbreak investigations at two Assisted Living Facilities. Such facilities are not required to have food inspections performed by Licensed Environmental Health Specialist and County Unrestricted Funds paid for Environmental Health staff time to conduct this consultation and technical assistance.
  • Environmental Health assisted during a Norovirus outbreak investigation at a church with day care facilities. Recommendations included; placing diapering procedures at the diapering station, with references to hand washing and sanitizing the station after use. This signage is required by the child care division in licensed daycares. There is a population of small children on site. We discussed proper procedures for sanitizing toys that have been mouthed and recommended talking to the congregation about staying home if they have experienced vomiting and diarrhea. Proper use of gloving using non-latex gloves when snacks are dispensed. Because we are dealing with a relatively hardy virus we encourage following CDC recommendations that they use of 1000 ppm bleach on fomite surfaces and bathrooms for the next few days. This is not an inspected facility, and County Unrestricted Funds paid for Environmental Health staff time to conduct this investigation.


Disaster Preparedness:

  • Environmental Health staff coordinated with Community Health staff on Department-wide planning for response to avian influenza H5N1.
  • Environmental Health responded to the December 2006 power outages that affected food establishments and homes by providing a news release to the media and holding an interview with KLOO radio. Environmental Health staff also spot checked food establishments to assure they were closed if affected by power outage. One restaurant was found open without power and cited for holding foods at unsafe temperatures.


Other Environmental Health Activities:

  • Made continuous progress towards the EPA Justice Grant completion. Final completion expected June 2007.
  • Environmental Health staff assisted other county agencies and the County Commissioners on beginning work on a Habitat Conservation Plan for the County.
  • Benton County Environmental Health assisted in hosting the Commissioners College. An educational session on the role and responsibilities in environmental health to newly elected county commissioners from around Oregon.
  • Environmental Health staff have begun meeting with representatives of OSU Greek Life to discuss setting up contract food and safety inspections for fraternities and sororities.
  • Several interns from OSU have been working with Environmental Health on projects that Environmental Health currently does not have the time or resource to invest.
  • The first project involves monitoring and surveillance for the presence of West Nile virus. This project involves collecting mosquito samples and identifying them to genus species, as well as testing using throat swabs of Corvides that have been dead less than 24 hours for West Nile virus.
  • The second project is designed to identify gaps in food safety in Oregon by identifying types of food establishment that are currently exempted from meeting food safety rules.

Health Management Services Division

Business Services:

  • Business Services staff has worked successfully to change public perception and help clients understand that the Health Center and Health Department are not “free clinics.” Most clients have an obligation to contribute toward the cost of their health services. Services are not free, but may be discounted based on income. Payment is due at time of service. Most Clients are making the minimum fee payment at the time of service.
  • Business Services has made significant gains in reducing the backlog of centralized billing since it was turned over to County staff.
  • Staff made real headway in getting insurance carriers to provide clean bills, verified codes, etc. to ensure an improved payment process.
  • Staff successfully undertook the task of providing WIC vouchers to clients for the last year. This service was formerly performed by our state partner (DHS).
  • Successfully recruited business carriers to have their staff come into the clinic for work – related vaccinations.
  • Improved Flu clinics paperwork process and billing for Medicare clients by a roster.
  • Staff improved the bill collection process. The program is on track and has shown marked improvement as evidenced by the number of accounts over 180 days past due.
  • A concerted effort to improve customer friendliness at the check-out desk has successfully been accomplished.


Client Services:

  • Vital statistics registered 596 deaths and 1,093 births. The number of certificates sold was 3,350 death and 632 birth.
  • The records room processed over 675 "release of information" requests.
  • The records room has increased hours of operation on Wednesday evenings to accommodate the late clinics.
  • The dental program has served 1189 visits in 2006, which was increase over 2005 of 1089 visits.
  • Through successful implementation of the Federally Qualified Heath Center, the Health Department is seeing an increase in appointments.
  • Processed all New Beginnings Drug Treatment Center clients. The number of visits doubled over 2006.
  • Client Services have increased their capacity to serve the Latino population.
  • Responded to client feedback and made the small waiting room more customer friendly.
  • Two Saturday clinics a month have been added at the Lincoln and Monroe clinics.
  • The Lincoln and Monroe clinics combined had over 3,000 visits during 2006.

Mental Health Division

  • Received a 2006 Mental Health Award for Excellence from the Oregon Department of Human Services Addictions and Mental Health Division.
  • Completed the 2007-2009 Biennial Implementation Plan in partnership with the Alcohol, Other Drug and Mental Health Advisory Committee (ADMHAC) – our local citizen advisory committee - outlining priorities for services in the next biennium.
  • Revised program structures to better deliver integrated services.


Adult Services:

  • Supportive Housing (ROLS): 18 persons served; 8 new people entered; 10 exited the program, of these 10, 8 were able to find secure and permanent housing
  • ICS Team continues to provide 75% of services to individuals outside the office, in the community, meeting clients where they are.
  • More expensive services, such as hospitalization and respite, have been utilized much less as acute issues are addressed quickly and intensely on an outpatient basis.
  • Increased efficiency as more services have been provided with the same staff resources
  • Increased integration between Adult Mental Health and Substance Abuse services
  • Increased coordination of care between CHC and mental health (MD slots, access to crisis workers, access to prescriber for people in crisis)
  • More participation from consumers in ABHA-sponsored Art Show, which was coordinated by a consumer contracted to organize the County's participation in the Art Show
  • Sponsored 5 consumers to attend national Consumer's Conference (the Alternatives conference)
  • Continue to see increase in consumer voice in program planning, development, and implementation.

Children's Services/ACIST:

  • Benton County ACIST in conjunction with community partners have developed and implemented evidence-based wrap-around services. These services include therapeutic foster care, therapeutic respite care, in-home skills providers, mentors, strength based family support team meetings and planning, acupuncture, and outreach to parents in prison, relative placements, with the ultimate results of residential children maintained in their homes we currently do not have any children in psychiatric residential treatment.
  • We have implemented two family satisfaction surveys that we are using to track our success in engaging families, providing needed services, and looking at tangible outcomes.
  • We have developed a wide participation of community partners in both funding and decision making in regards to youth and families that require a higher level of mental health services and are at risk of out of home placement. The Child and Family Advisory Committee, made up of directors, superintendents, and other decision making officials is meeting regularly and have been effective in establishing a flex fund account for the special needs of youth and families outside state dollars. This is a collaborative effort with community partners equally contributing to the fund. The Community Coordinating Committee meet two times a month to staff special needs cases and oversee plans of care and Mental Health dollars. This multi-agency committee has been very effective in working with the care coordinators on the youth and families whose mental health needs have risen to this level of intervention.
  • ACIST with the help and training of Pat Miles, a national expert, has made an 85% switch to wraparound and strength based service delivery. ACIST currently uses family support teams as the means to create and oversee the plans that are developed. We are currently looking at fidelity scales to insure our adherence to the model.
  • Since the inception of the Children's Mental Health Initiative we have organized and provided several trainings on the changes and the requirements of those changes. We have met with every provider in the county as well as all the school districts in the county. We organized a well attended two day event that included training in wrap around for the community including parent consumers. In addition we have organized training opportunities for community partners in CASII and Motivational Interviewing.

Developmental Disabilities Services:

  • Developed DD 101 curriculum for training care givers and staff who work with people with developmental disabilities.
  • Developed several life skills curriculum topic areas that will be offered as an on-going curriculum beginning 1/07.
  • In its first year, the My Club socialization program and the therapeutic gardening program have been very successful and well-attended. Weekly attendance of between 30-40 individuals.
  • Special Olympics regional coordinator is now in our office which has led to excellent coordination for athletes and potential athletes.
  • Widened doorways to make office ADA compliant.
  • Established DD Flex Fund to fund unmet needs, mostly to assist in addressing issues of homelessness.
  • Contracted with brokerage services (ISN) to provide additional direct services for challenging individuals.
  • Increased wages for respite workers from $8 to $8.75
  • Continued to expand foster care capacity by opening and licensing new homes.
  • Offered quarterly trainings and OIS training for foster care providers.
  • Began a Spanish language support group for parents with a child with a developmental disability.
  • Conducted a Family Support survey.
  • Held forums with various community groups such as IMPACT.
  • Special Transportation ridership is at 115%.
  • Monthly reviews of residential facilities have correlated with improved licensing on-sites.
  • New bilingual staff position in the past year has led to improved outreach to Spanish speaking population with dramatic increase in Spanish speaking families served.
  • Increased pool of respite providers for children and families.
  • Currently serve about 385 people with developmental disabilities.
  • Identified individuals for Comp 300 (non-crisis) residential and vocational services to be funded through the state.
  • Implemented new eligibility and crisis eligibility forms.
  • Earned Title 19 federal match for case management through providing above the contracted level of services.
  • Implemented drop box for improved customer service.
  • Increased hours for Access Specialist to full-time.
  • Increased case management FTE.
  • Created Support Specialist positions with existing staff.
  • Renamed Mental Health Associate positions as Services Coordinators.
  • Advocated successfully for OPE to be included in foster care funding and for greater access to brokerage funding for transition age (18-21).
  • Improved completion rate of annual plans.
  • Improved electronic data keeping services and resource information.
  • Implemented the state's cut of the Semi-Independent Living Program (SILP) and transferred recipients to supported living or brokerage services.
  • Served on the Oregon Respite Project and the Dual Diagnosis (MH/DD) Work Group to provide recommendations to the legislature about services to children.
  • Implemented new policies and procedures for eligibility, intake, referral and other areas.
  • Published a DD newsletter several times per year to share information.
  • Have implemented most tasks of our strategic plan.

Drug Treatment Services:

  • We have maintained and enhanced the Drug Treatment Court through a grant from CJC. We have added another therapist to increase our capacity and offer groups in the evening so working participants can take advantage of therapeutic groups. We also added child care services, parenting classes on site and access to the Dental Van.
  • We have worked with Mental Health to secure a staff psychiatrist for psychiatric services on site including dollars for prescription drugs. We continue to serve as the treatment component of the Drug Treatment Court Program with great outcomes and a broad community support.
  • Though the Juvenile Drug Treatment Court continues to go unfunded we are functioning as the treatment component. We have served 11 youth and graduating 4 of them recently again with great outcomes for the youth and families that we served.
  • Weekly intake orientation have been transferred to the New Beginnings building and have continued to aide us in serving our partners and clients in a very effective and time sensitive manner.
  • Lisa Aldrich PhD continues to serve youth in the Corvallis 509J school districts doing AOD and MH screenings, referrals, counseling, and groups in both high schools and two middle schools in addition to the alternative school. We have instituted a Motivational Interviewing five session group that has been very successful and popular among the youth.
  • Continue to have a 20 hour week clinician stationed at Self Sufficiency Program DHS providing screening and group intervention prevention services as well as consultation for staff.

Medical Services:

  • Psychiatrists have adapted to an increased monitoring role of individual patients, as well as providing quality medical care with diminishing resources. The new monitoring sheet provides a higher standard of care in monitoring patients' metabolic risk factors.
  • Psychiatrists meet with other physicians and agencies (e.g., ABHA) to promote quality improvement of psychiatric services.
  • The team has adapted to changes in OHP coverage as well as assist clients who have lost OHP & prescription coverage. In addition, we are integrating the new mental health aid and volunteers in regards to patient assistance programs. This allows more FTE for case management and nursing for the division.
  • We are functioning as an information & referral resource for pt .on asst programs for staff, clients & community advocates as well as assisting individual clients in completing the application process for various pt asst. programs through the pharmaceutical companies.
  • We are redefining the team’s relationships with the pharmaceutical companies to insure continuing access to free medications and be time efficient.
  • The Pill Minder group continues to be a widely used transition group helping individuals to learn skills to manage their meds more independently.
  • We have had a number of clients "graduate" or transition out of Pill Minder group.
  • Additionally, we serve a number of patients in our injection clinic on a regular basis. This is increasingly important with injectable forms of atypical antipsychotics.
  • We have integrated the medical team's expertise in expanding psychiatric services to a higher risk population through the ICS team.
  • We have established parameters for integration with the new Community Health Center, including the Lincoln and Monroe clinics.
  • We have provided education and supervision for nursing students, pharmacy students, and a pre-medical student.
  • We have established a prototype for the state as far as integration of psychiatric and primary care medicine.
  • We are providing psychiatric services to the new Drug Treatment Court.
  • One of our nurses is participating in the Prescription Drug Committee for Linn and Benton County.
  • Helping folks transition from patient assistance programs to Medicare part D coverage for meds to ensure continued access to meds w/o gaps.
  • Helping folks establish w/ new pharmacies after the abrupt closing of Albright & Raw pharmacy. Many clients had accounts set up for billing of co-payments on a monthly basis and had meds delivered. Most of the large chain pharmacies don't provide either or both services.

Public Health Division

Substance Abuse Prevention:
Jessica Kelly, Substance Abuse Prevention Coordinator

  • Maintained $100,000 additional funding to support the Reconnecting Youth program for 06-07.
  • Trained 12 individuals from Benton County in Reconnecting Youth - a program to reduce school drop out, increase school performance and decrease drug use amongst high school students
  • Obtained $11,000 in funding for enforcing underage drinking laws and projects related to addressing the prevention of underage drinking
  • Supported 7 schools, community groups, and/or coalitions through formal contracts for funding and/or technical assistance to conduct substance abuse prevention
  • In collaboration with the Corvallis Police Dept., Oregon Liquor Control Commission and the Corvallis Partnership Coalition trained 111 individuals in the responsible sale of alcohol.
  • Worked with community partners to develop an alcohol strategic plan for the city of Corvallis.
  • Worked with community partners to develop a strategic plan on methamphetamine for Benton County

Promotores de Salud Program:
Antonio Torres, Promotor and Lina Loaiza, Promotora

  • Presented poster on HIV Integration Project at Western Migrant Stream Forum (January 2006)
  • Held HIV/AIDS Prevention event for Women and Girls at Lincoln Elementary (March 2006)
  • Presented on HIV Integration Project at Mid-Year Society for Public Health Education conference (May 2006)
  • Hosted 1st Annual Benton County Soccer Tournament and Family Weekend (August 2006)
  • Presented on HIV Integration Project at OPHA (October 2006)
  • Presented on HIV Integration Project at APHA (November 2006)
  • Published in NASTAD Newsletter (October 2006) as feature Oregon program on Latinos and HIV/AIDS
  • Submitted application for Sister Cecilia Award for Innovative Health Programs
  • Conducted 6 Focus Group through HIV Integration Project
  • Conducted 242 Rapid HIV Tests for Latino clients
  • Conducted 41 HIV/AIDS and Sexual Health Sessions for Latino community
  • 75% of current participants have completed the HIV Integration Project
  • 695 encounters with community members
  • Began Circulo de Salud (Men's Health Group)
  • Taught two series of Platos Saludables (Meals Made Easy) in collaboration with OSU extension services. One at the Even Start Program and another one at the Multicultural Literacy Center in Corvallis.
  • Taught HIV/AIDS, Breast Cancer Prevention, Nutrition and Diabetes and parenting classes at the Even Start Program in Lincoln Elementary.
  • In collaboration with OSU helped facilitate two Food Insecurity focus groups. One in Monroe and another one at the Familias Latinas Aprendiendo in Lincoln Elementary.

Tobacco Prevention and Control:
Tatiana Dierwechter, Tobacco Prevention Coordinator

  • Benton County Tobacco-Free Coalition secured approval of a no-smoking prohibition in the Corvallis parks system, in close collaboration with the Benton County Health Department, the Corvallis City Council, and many other interested constituents.
  • Conducted a survey and educational campaign (March 2006) in three child care centers to raise awareness of the impact of second hand smoke exposure in homes and cars. A follow up educational session was held at the Corvallis Public Library in July 2006 to share results and recommendations.
  • Collaborated with school districts throughout the county to assess capacity to develop and implement “gold standard” comprehensive tobacco policies.
  • Surveyed attendees at the 2006 Benton County Fair to assess their level of support for attending the fair if the event was completely smoke-free. The majority of respondents were supportive of changing the current policy of allowing smoking in most outdoor areas to having designated smoking areas.
  • Collaborated in September 2006 with the Substance Abuse Program to integrate tobacco information into its Alcohol and Other Drug (AODA) merchant training.

Sexual Health/MARS (Male Advocates for Responsible Sexuality):
Jacqueline Cupples, MARS Program Coordinator, and Taylor Murray, MARS Program Assistant

Achievements listed below occurred during the MARS Program's third year of federal funding (Office of Population Affairs) spanning October 1, 2005 through September 30, 2006, unless otherwise indicated:

Grant Year 2006

  • Served 5,321 MARS participants via Health Education Outreach (HEO) Sessions (2,630 participants), Clinical Education Sessions (CES) (157 participants), and targeted outreach activities (2,534 participants).
  • Conducted eighty-seven Health Education Outreach Series in the following locations: four Benton County School Districts; Oregon State University classes, conferences, fraternities and sororities; Western Oregon University classes; youth-serving organizations; faith-based organizations.
  • Conducted thirty-five outreach events throughout Benton, Polk and Linn Counties.
  • Development and implementation of new evaluation instruments and comparison group study design that capture measures of knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy and sexual behavior. Additional data content will allow for comparison with other male-involvement programs in the nation.
  • Enhancement of the MARS curriculum to include experiential learning activities designed to increase student engagement and facilitate knowledge retention, as well as the development and generalization of skills.
  • Piloted the MARS Female Referral Program at the Benton Community Health Center based on MARS participant feedback and the literature suggesting females have a strong influence on male health behaviors. The female referral program was expanded to private practices that specialize in women's reproductive health during summer of 2006.
  • In June 2006, the social marketing campaign was expanded to include additional series of TV ads using “spoken-word” poetry. The campaign focuses on the topics of media & masculinity, communication in relationships, STI screening, and contraception. All commercials have a “call to action” with the MARS logo and phone number.
  • In September 2006, the MARS Program curriculum officially received its copyright status through the Library of Congress Copyright office.
  • In collaboration with the Benton County Health Department, Jackson County Health Department in Medford, Oregon and Deschutes County Health Department in Bend, Oregon received supplemental funds from Title X Region X to conduct the MARS Expansion Project. The Expansion Project has met many successes including: 1) the hiring and training of four MARS Outreach Workers (two in each county); 2) completion of 3 HEO workshop series; 3) completion of 25 HEO activities reaching 430 individuals; 4) implementation of social marketing campaigns in each county; and 5) completion of 44 CS-MARS appointments. Both counties received a second year of funding from Title X Region X and are expected to build upon the successes achieved during their first year.
  • In October and November 2006, MARS Outreach Workers from Benton, Deschutes and Jackson Counties completed 35 hours of training on topics including: MARS Program history and background information, substance abuse, sexual assault and bystander training, peer education, the MARS curriculum, LBGTQ Safe Space Training, healthy relationships, styles of learning, male sexual and reproductive health issues, the reproductive cycle, birth control methods, sexually transmitted infections, mandatory reporting, MARS Program evaluation.
  • Exploratory conversations have occurred with Oregon DHS staff to continue the expansion of MARS to additional counties in Oregon in the future.
  • A focus group was conducted with Latino males ages 12-25 to gain information about the effectiveness of social marketing materials with the Latino population and ways the MARS program could better serve this population.
  • A focus group was conducted with members of The Pride Cultural Center, a LGBTQ organization to gain feedback about the program and outreach methods with this community.
  • In July 2006, inclusion of male MARS CES client participation in the Ahler's data tracking system for FPEP occurred.
  • During 2006, MARS presented at the following local and national conferences and events:

    o Oregon State University's Conference on Gender and Culture (Corvallis, OR)
    o Region VI Family Planning Summit (Dallas, TX)
    o Region X Reproductive Health Conference (Seattle, WA)
    o Adolescent Sexuality Conference (Seaside, OR)
    o Title X Male Reproductive Health Conference (Denver, CO)
    o American College Health Association Annual Meeting (New York, NY)
    o Oregon Public Health Association Annual Meeting (Corvallis, OR)
    o Society for Public Health Education (Boston, MA)

Harm Reduction Program:
Chris Gray, Harm Reduction Outreach Worker

  • 50,770 needles exchanged
  • 399 IDU clients served through needle exchange encounters
  • 234 Rapid HIV tests conducted at offsite locations in Benton County
  • Collaborated with Communicable Disease public health nurses and mobilized IDU population for HCV screening throughout the year
  • Co-Organize World AIDS Day events with Student Health Services.
  • Presented a paper on Needle Exchange Among the Severely Mentally Ill in Benton County at the 5th National Harm Reduction Conference in Oakland, CA.

Public Health Preparedness:
Craig Hogue, Coordinator

  • Successful completion of Pandemic Flu, Health Communication, Community Engagement and Point-Of-Dispensing plans
  • Planned & carried out PandOrA pandemic flu exercise
  • Development of draft Nuclear, Chemical and Mass Fatality plans
  • Expanded training in incident command system, national incident management system, unified command, weapons-of-mass destruction, forensic epidemiology and department emergency operations.
  • Improved public health preparedness engagement with faith communities, schools, businesses, long-term care facilities, OSU and HRSA Region II.
  • Initiated Health Department Continuity-Of-Business-Operations planning
  • Assisted in creation of home preparedness booklet for all Benton County employees.

Communicable Disease Prevention & Control:
Eileen Marma, RN and Mary Shaugnessy, RN

  • Initiated hepatitis A&B immunization project with New Beginnings
  • Implemented incident command process for CD investigations – paper on this topic accepted & presented at the Oregon Public Health Association annual meeting.
  • Sustained active participation in hospital and OSU pandemic preparedness planning
  • Outreach services led to improved TB and other communicable disease processes at Community Outreach, Inc.
  • Developed a “just-in-time” training curriculum for surge capacity staff pulled into CD investigations.
  • Outreach services to long-term-care facilities led to improved pandemic flu planning at those facilities.
  • One nurse completed Public Health Nursing Leadership Institute

Maternal Child Health Programs:
Marjean Austin, Program Manager

  • The Oral Health Project performed oral assessments and provided Fluoride Varnish to 43 children ages 9 months to six years old.
  • Oral Health Coalition was started in August 2006 to assess and develop an Oral Health plan for Benton County.
  • Dental services were provided to 92 Students in Benton County through the School Health Program. This program coordinates the dental vans and Give a Kid a Smile Program with the local dentists. The value provided by these programs totaled $51,970.
  • Indoor Air Quality assessments were performed for all of the schools in the Philomath School District and Mountain View Elementary school in the Corvallis district which also has an “Asthma Friendly School”. Benton County public health/school nurses are integral to these projects.
  • School Wellness Policy and Health Department Representation on Corvallis and Philomath School Districts.
  • Women, Infant, and Children Program (WIC) provided nutrition education and food vouchers to 2,256 clients of which 1,574 were infants and children under age 5 and 682 pregnant, breastfeeding & postpartum women. (Data-2005).
  • WIC program and the Farm Direct Nutrition Program benefits the local economy by bringing $763, 891 to local grocers and $5,000 to farmers through farmers market and farm stands.
  • The Immunization Program worked with the Advisory Board to develop an emergency preparedness for vaccine storage during power outages at all of the local provider clinics.
  • 86% of pregnant women in Benton County start prenatal care in their 1st pregnancy.
    Benton County teen pregnancy rate is below the state average as being 7.0 per 1,000 girls age 15-17 compared to the state average of 12.
  • In 2005, Benton County Health Department gave 3,853 immunizations to children and adults.
    Award of Excellence given by the National Institute of Health and Human Services to Benton County Healthy Weight and Lifestyle Coalition in recognition of their contribution to the health and well-being of the Nation's youth and families through diligent service through the national WE CAN Program.
  • School nurse in Philomath was selected as Oregon School Nurse of the Year (academic year 2006-07)