MOUNT GILEAD — Morrow County Commissioners welcomed staff from Morrow Family Health Center at their Aug. 12 meeting and proclaimed National Health Center Week Aug. 9-15.
The Health Center’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Henry Heinzmann, MD, spoke about the impact of Community Health Centers over the past 50 years. MFHC opened in 2016 as a Community Health Center.
He recalled a quote that, “A person’s ZIP code can be a better predictor of health than genetic code.”
Heinzmann shared several statistics from 2015 and 2020 of Morrow County’s overall level of health as compared with numbers in Delaware and Marion counties. Delaware County ranks number one in Ohio of the 88 counties in overall health, while Marion County ranks 66th and Morrow County has raised its rank from 55th in 2015 to 25th in the state in 2020.
Areas showing improvement in the county are: length of life, health behaviors and physical environment. Other factors of improvement were: a drop in smoking and alcohol impaired driving, a large drop in sexually transmitted infections, teen births and improvement in low birthweight.
Heinzmann said some areas needing improvement were adult obesity now at 39 percent, physical inactivity that increased from 20 percent to 32 percent and access to available exercise opportunities that decreased from 31 percent in 2015 to 17 percent in 2020.
Areas still lagging behind in Morrow County include clinical care with only one primary care physician per 5,580 in persons and dentists one in 5,580. Mammogram screenings are at only 39 percent of eligible population and flu vaccinations at 34 percent.
Patient Support Manager Meghan Taylor talked about the high quality of medical primary care for all ages at MFHC. Care includes sick and well child visits, physicals, immunizations, patient assistance medication programs and assistance with the insurance marketplace.
Dr. Brian Bachelder, MD serves as primary care physician along with Nurse Practitioner Tammy Murphy FNP-C, and Adrienne Panas, CNP, who joined this summer.
Heinzmann said that MFHC has made a point to make high-dose flu vaccines available this year as well as regular dose vaccines. He said the high dose is for persons 65 and older. High dose has a higher amount of antigens and produces more antibodies to promote a protective immune response.
Other services include dental care for all ages with Dr. Diana Park, DDS and a dental hygienist. Services include tooth extractions, fillings, cleanings, root canals, X-rays, partials/dentures and nitrous oxide.
In Behavioral Health Rhonda McCombs, MSW, LSW serves as counselor. She works with individuals in improving self-esteem, ways to decrease anxiety and depression, behavioral management with children, relationship issues and grieving the loss of loved ones.
MFHC accepts commercial insurance, Care source, Buckeye, Humana, Molina, Paramount, United Community Plan, Medicare and Medicaid. Taylor said she also works with uninsured patients by offering an income-based sliding fee schedule.
MFHC is on Face Book, Instagram and Twitter. Appointments can be made by calling 419-751-9010 for medical and counseling and 419-946-3856 for dental services. Hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Website: www.morrowfamilyhealth.org. Location is 76 S. Main St., Mount Gilead.
