County WIC program to have new office

Heath said the building will require very little renovation for the program, just a hole cut into a wall to establish a sign-in window.

The county nurse manager explained the WIC program to the BOC Monday, noting that WIC is “not that similar to food stamps.” She said the program is for women and children ages birth to age 5. The women get nutritional education and vouchers for healthy food. The classes also include other advice on healthy living. Heath spoke of the health department’s Cabbage Patch program, which aims to provide prenatal education classes to women at risk of delivering pre-term. She noted that the prevention of one pre-term delivery saves about $70,000.

“We run a lot of WIC through Cabbage Patch,” said Heath.

The nurse manager said there is no space for the Cabbage Patch classes at the health department and instruction has been given in the reception area with others who are not involved in the program. She said this sometimes deters people from coming in to the health department to receive services.

“It scares away our other clients,” she said.

The board agreed to lease the space to the health department, allowing the program to move into the building as soon as possible. The six-month contract, which will include $1,000 monthly payments to the county beginning in January, will allow either side to back out with just a three-month notice.

Commissioner Jim Escoe voiced concern about utility costs, noting that the county will cover those and it doesn’t know how much that will be.

But the board discussed the short term of the contract, which would allow the BOC to back out of the arrangement if concludes that utilities are too high. The board voted 5-0 in favor of the move.