Child Abuse Prevention Month 

MCDH staff participated in Wear Blue Day 2023 in recognition of Child Abuse Prevention month, coming up in April. 

National Nutrition Month Celebration

The Community Food Drive will run March 1 - March 31 in recognition of National Nutrition Month. All food can be brought to the Montgomery County Department of Health (217 S Main Street) during our normal business hours. Needed food items include soups, dry pastas, pasta sauce, canned fruits, canned vegetables, crackers, cereal, jelly, and peanut butter. 

COVID-19 Resources 

COVID-19 Vaccines are available to all individuals ages 6 months old and up. 

For more informaiton on vaccinations and how to schedule an appointment, please visit the Coronavirus section under Health Info.

More information on the latest Executive Order is available in the Frequently Asked Questions (For Spanish Click Here). 

 Welcome to Montgomery County Department of Health.

On behalf of the Montgomery County Department of Health, I would like to personally welcome you to our agency and encourage you to take advantage of the many services we provide. In our department, we use our core values of Integrity, Quality, Exceptional Service, Collaboration and Accountability to create an atmosphere of service delivery that will exceed your expectations. 

We strive daily to meet the following guiding principles of our work:  (1)  Become accredited and maintain accreditation standards, (2) Utilize “best practice” in implementing public health initiatives, (3) Recruit, develop and retain a well-qualified staff, (4) Seek private and public funding sources to support and improve services, (5) Be fiscally responsible, (6) Improve residents’ health outcomes and quality of life, (7) Prepare to respond to a public health emergency or disaster, and (8) Serve as a health information resource in the community.

Our goal is to improve personal and community health in Montgomery County.  We look forward to partnering with you to turn that goal into a reality.

Mary Perez, MSN, RN
Montgomery County Health Director

Mission and Vision

Mission: The mission of the Montgomery County Department of Health is to provide high-quality public health services to individuals and families in Montgomery County.

Vision:  Reducing health disparities to improve personal and public health in Montgomery County through education, diagnosis, treatment and surveillance.

Ten Essential Public Health Services

The ten essential public health services relate to the three core functions of public health which are assessment, policy development and assurance.

The ten essentials are as follows:

1. Monitor health status to identify community health problems.
2. Diagnose and investigate health problems and health hazards in the community.
3. Inform, educate, and empower people about health issues.
4. Mobilize community partnerships to identify and solve health problems.
5. Develop policies and plans that support individual and community health efforts.
6. Enforce laws and regulations that protect health and ensure safety.
7. Evaluate effectiveness, accessibility and quality of personal and population-based health services.
8. Research for new insights and solutions to health problems.
9. Link people to needed personal health services and assure the provision of health care otherwise unavailable.
10. Assure a competent public health and personal health care workforce.

This institution is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

From the desk of Health Director, Mary Perez. 

The ending of the Public Health Emergency 

A few weeks ago, the federal government announced plans to end the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) on May 11, 2023. COVID-19 remains a public health priority-it has impacted all aspects of daily life and contributed to a decline in life expectancy. Many people remain at higher risk for severe illness and death. However, we are in a much better place than we were three years ago. Widespread prevention and control measures like vaccination are helping transition to a new era in the pandemic. The CDC remains dedicated to preventing severe illness and death from COVID-19, with particular concern for people who are at higher risk. COVID-19 remains a critical public health issue, still the sixth leading cause of death in the United States (January 2023). The Cdc si actively working with other federal government agencies and offices to maintain as much access as possible to vaccines, testing, and treatments. It remains important to stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines, especially for people at higher risk for severe disease. To view the full press release from the White House, click here. 

A statement from Mary Perez, Health Director, on COVID-19.

The CDC encourages people who have weakened immune systems (or who live with someone who does) to get a COVID vaccine and/or stay up to date on booster vaccines. A COVID vaccine is the first line of protection to prevent serious illness, hospitalization, and death from COVID-19. Everyone who is eligible should stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines and boosters for the added protection. To view the full statement, click here. (Updated 2/24/23)

MONTGOMERY COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES

PLEASE REVIEW THIS PRIVACY NOTICE CAREFULLY

The law requires us to protect your health information, give you this Notice, and follow the guidelines in this Notice.  We may change the terms of this Notice in the future.  We reserve to right to change this Notice and effective date covering all medical information that we maintain.  If we make changes to the Notice we will:

• Post the new Notice in our lobby.
• Have copies of the new Notice available upon request from our Privacy Officer at (910) 572-1393 to obtain a copy of the current Notice.  Please contact our Privacy Officer with any questions about our privacy policy, procedures or practices.
• Post the new Notice on our website. (www.montgomerycountync.com)

 The rest of this Notice will

• Discuss how we may use and disclose medical information about you.
• Explain your rights with respect to medical information about you.
• Describe how and where you may file a privacy-related complaint.

We may use or disclose medical information about you without asking for your permission in order to provide health care, obtain payment for that health care, and operate our business efficiently.

• Upon referral to another doctor or health care provider, we will give them health information about you.
• Billing staff will use information to your designated contact or other health care providers in an emergency.
• The Health Department may disclose information to stop or control the spread of communicable disease.
• The legal system may request medical records and we must provide the specific information requested.

Under any circumstance other that those listed above (ie. fundraising, marketing, sale of protected health information (PHI), or use of disclosure of psychotherapy notes), we will ask for your written authorization before we use or disclose PHI about you.  When you give us permission to use or share the information in your health records, you may cancel your permission at any time in writing.  We will follow your instructions except where we have already shared your records by prior consent.  You may not able to cancel your permission if it was given for you to be covered by insurance or in a legal matter.

It is our duty to notify individuals of a breach of Protected Health Information, (PHI).

You have the right to:

• Review or obtain copies, with your written release, of your health record information.  You may have to pay a reasonable cost-based fee for copies.  You may request your medical information in electronic format, if available.
• Request a restriction on use or disclosure of your PHI, for Treatment, Payment, or Health Care Operations or disclosures we make to someone who is involved in your care or the payment for your care, such as a family member or friend.  We are not required to agree to these additional restrictions.
• Receive a list of disclosures that we made of your health information for purposes other than treatment, payment or health care operations and certain other activities, for a period of up to six years prior to your request.
• Receive communication regarding your health information by alternate means or to alternate locations.
• Request a change, in writing, to the information in your health record.  Any denial of your request will be in writing.

If you believe that your privacy rights have been violated or if you are dissatisfied with our privacy policies or procedures, you may file a compliant either with us or with the federal government, in writing within 180 days of when you learned the violation occurred.  We will not take an action against you or change our treatment of you in any way if you file a complaint.  You must name Montgomery county Health department and must describe the violation.  You may bring your complaint to the Department at 217 S. Main St., Troy, or you can mail to the following address:  Montgomery County Health Department, HIPAA Compliance Officer,  217 South Main Street, Troy, NC 27371.  To file a complaint with the federal government, you may send your complaint to the following address:  Office of the Secretary, US Department of Health and Human Services, 200 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20201.