By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Members of county commissioners court recently received the 2023 county health report from the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) Region 8.
The court received the report during its most recent meeting on Wednesday.
County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. recognized Paloma Sanchez, public health nurse for the Texas Department of State Health Services, who in turn introduced Region 8 Deputy Regional Director Gale Morrow, as well as Madison Gilbert, a member of the agency’s data analytics team.
Sanchez presented members of the court with the Region 8 Annual Report for 2023.
The report includes information about public health intervention in rabies outbreaks across the state, none of which occurred in Val Verde County, as well as articles on investigating foodborne illness outbreaks, tobacco use and vaping in schools, combating antibiotic resistance bacteria and more.
Sanchez told the court, “Public Health Region 8 is committed to preventing disease and protecting the health of our residents in our region. We participate in the tri-national health council. We provide immunizations to infants, children and adults. We assist schools, health care providers and hospitals with notifiable conditions and disease reporting.
“Inside your annual reports, you will find the Val Verde County insert for 2023. Now, these numbers are different in each department. We also have a list of providers that can report and confirm suspected cases to DSHS,” she added.
Sanchez said in 2023, the DSHS conducted 74 disease investigations in Val Verde County.
Among those disease investigations were 14 reported cases of salmonella, and nine tuberculosis contacts were identified, she said.
“We also had 270 positive sexually-transmitted illnesses,” Sanchez said, adding 26 county residents are receiving follow-up treatment for HIV and sexually-transmitted diseases.
She said the local DSHS office during 2023 administered 118 immunization vaccines.
Sanchez also called the court’s attention to the back page of the agency’s annual report, which includes a list of contact names and phone numbers for various programs.
After Sanchez finished her presentation, Gilbert also addressed the court.
“Thank you for having us. It is our pleasure to serve Val Verde County, and Paloma is a fairly new member of our staff, but we are proud of the services we provide and look forward to hearing from you about your ideas regarding public health activities in this county,” Gilbert said.
The 830 Times readers may obtain a complete copy of the Region 8 2023 annual report here. at the following address:
The commissioners court took no action following the presentation of the report.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com.
