Health coalition meets to discuss latest issues

The Healthy Communities Coalition is a group that meets every other month and advocates for the health and well-being of the Mineral County community through collaboration and shared resources. Representatives from several health departments and groups participated in the meeting held on March 13 in Superior. Several topics were discussed including the well-received presentation about Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACE, by Todd Garrison through the ChildWise Institute. His visit was organized by Amy Lommen with the Community Health Improvement Plan or CHIP and Stephanie Quick with Mineral County Health Department. An evening public presentation was held on March 14 at the St. Regis School. At the presentation Garrison spoke about his ground-breaking studies regarding child well-being and the gap between understanding complex emotional trauma, the expertise to treat it, and effective resiliency strategies.

Laurie Crawford and Liz Rolles from the Partnership Health Center updated the council about their hours and services including Montana Living Life Well Workshop, student physicals, therapy, including art therapy, and dental services.

Alberton middle and high school students have started a “Tobacco Free Mountain Cats” group which educates peers about the dangers of tobacco reported Mineral County public health nurse and tobacco prevention specialist, Barb Jasper. Superior School also received a Tobacco Free School of Excellence designation and will join St. Regis School who has already received it. Jasper also said “Kick Butts Day” will be March 21.

The PEAK Foundation out of Alberton is hosting a Masquerade Ball on May 5 to help raise funds for upgrades to the town’s park. Jaime Odell and Laura Acker with PEAK said the Alberton Town Council committed $60,000 toward the project with additional funds being secured, including $5,000 from the Idaho Forest Group.

Acker is also with Parents as Teachers and announced that they have enrolled 100 kids and completed 2,456 visits within Mineral County over the past few years. They have 26 kids currently enrolled and have a goal of 34. Carissa Kuhl with Best Beginnings/Early Childhood Coalition is also recruiting for next year’s preschool class in Alberton with Kindergarten Roundup to be held April 9.

Monte Turner was at the meeting representing Mineral Community Hospital and he reported on their efforts to finalize this year’s schedule of 30 public hikes. The hikes begin in April and cover a number of topics and range from easy to difficult. Some hikes contain history, fishing, photography, and running with hiking sticks available. The hospitals annual Health Fair is also scheduled for May 12.

Another group which is currently accepting referrals is Man-Up-Right! Clinical therapist, Warren Michelson, has partnered up with Mary Furlong with the Healthy Relationships Project, and Shirley Iwata, Crime Victim Advocate, and County Attorney, Ellen Donahue. This is an 8-week pilot program which began on February 6 with the goal for male offenders to heal themselves and their families.

Two new recycling projects have been started in Alberton and Superior and Loreen Green, who is spearheading them, said the Alberton recycling bin is being replaced approximately every 30 days at a cost of $300 each with sponsorship from local businesses and individuals. The Superior project is still being developed with $450 needed per bin.

There was also a discussion about transporting people in mental crisis to emergency services. Currently, suicidal patients cannot be transported to emergency rooms by Partnership Health Care employees, said Liz Rolle. This is a liability issue facing many medical facilities and she was soliciting possible solutions. Law enforcement can only provide transportation if the person is a threat. One idea was to create a Crisis Response Service to help aid medical facilities and other organizations who face this problem.

The next meeting for the group will be held on May 8 from 11:30 to 1 p.m. in Superior.