Stanly County Health Department
History
The Stanly County Health Departments mission is to protect, promote, and preserve the health of the citizens and communities of Stanly County. This is a mission that officially began in 1937 and is still continuing today.
The Stanly County Health Department became fully operational July 1937. Dr. W. Nash McKenzie served at the first health officer (health director). Along with Dr. McKenzie, four others were hired to staff the health department. They were: nurses Miss Frances Barnett & Miss Jenice Ross, sanitary officer Mr. Dwight Stokes, and office assistant Miss Margaret Cochran.
The essential services of the Stanly County Health Department in 1937 were:
1. School health supervision, including physical examination of school children for defects;
2. Immunization service will be offered .for the control of smallpox, diphtheria, and typhoid
fever;
3. The perfection of an organization for the correction of physical defects, such physical
defects to be corrected by competent physicians of the county;
4. .conduct an organized program to reduce maternal and infant deaths;
5. An adequate venereal disease and tuberculosis program will be carried out, with the
cooperation of the local medical profession;
6. .will conduct an educational and supervisory program which will go far toward
correcting environmental sanitation, with particular emphasis on safe, excreta
disposal, malaria control, providing a pure and wholesome water supply, a pure milk
supply, and pure food within the county;
7. .will conduct epidemiological investigations and institute adequate, intelligent, and
effective measures for the prevention of communicable diseases;
8. The public health nurses will visit homes of school children who are absent because of
communicable diseases and in whom physical defects may be found, and take such steps
as may be necessary to prevent the spread of disease, and encourage the correction of the
physical defect. The nurses will also visit the homes in the interest of expectant mothers in
prenatal care, encouraging physical examinations, and securing the services of regular
licensed physicians for the period of confinement;
9. .will supervise midwives, instructing them in elementary hygiene, and enjoin them from
engaging in such practices they are not qualified, and which, in turn, are dangerous
procedures, often resulting in the death of the mother or infant;
10. The personnel of the health department, including the county health officer, shall devote
their entire time to their official duties, and they shall conform to the state board of healths
policies set forth in the contract agreement with reference to honesty, sobriety, and moral
conduct; ..
The Stanly News and Press, August 6, 1937
The first quarterly health report by Dr. McKenzie included the following information:
Immunizations
73 - visits to communicable/contagious cases
23 consultations with physicians
2 threatened diphtheria epidemics
1 - threatened scarlet fever epidemic
12, 105 immunized against typhoid fever
172 immunized against smallpox
153 immunized against diphtheria*
*schools in adjoining counties closed due to diphtheria epidemic, but not Stanly County
Venereal Disease Control
158 syphilis treatments
10 gonorrhea treatments
113 blood tests (90 negative & 23 positive)
40 domestic servants examined (10 had syphilis)
Tuberculosis
42 cases in need of hospitalization
Maternity Aid
132 visits
School Hygiene
All schools in county inspected
1,578 students received dental exams
55 students received dental work
Food Handlers
97 adult food handlers and domestic servants examined (18 found with contagious diseases)
General Sanitation
6 approved installations of water supplies
139 new privies & septic tanks supervised
292 visits to private premises
1 mosquito control study with the U.S. Public Health Service
Food and Milk
153 visits to food handling establishments (county grade average 68; two weeks later county
grade average 82; several food establishments closed)
The Stanly News and Press, October 31, 1937
Throughout the early years, the headlines of The Stanly News and Press included measles, infantile paralysis (polio), tuberculosis, typhoid fever, influenza, diphtheria, rabies, syphilis, well babies care, privies, sanitary food establishments, and trashy lots. Churches closed to prevent the spread of infantile paralysis and schools closed to prevent the spread of influenza.
Today, the Stanly County Health Department staff is still striving to protect the health of the citizens of Stanly County. While some of these past health issues no longer present a danger to the public, others are still being addressed. New public health issues have emerged through the years; such as West Nile virus, HIV infection/ AIDS, water pollution, bioterrorism, and chlamydia. The Stanly County Health Department staff continues to prepare to respond to current and new public health threats. The Stanly county Health Departments goal is to create a healthy community, so all our citizens can maximize their potential.
The Stanly County Health Department Strategic Goal Statements for 2008-2010 are:
1.
Ensure
the optimal capacity and infrastructure to carry out public health functions.
2.
Increase
the number of individuals adopting and sustaining healthy and environmentally
sound behaviors.
3.
Promote
prevention, surveillance, and control of communicable diseases.
4.
Promote
prevention strategies and/or manage injuries and chronic disease and mitigate
the associated disabilities.
5.
Assess
and assure access to appropriate health care and services to infants, children,
and adults.
6.
Prevent
and reduce the environmental risks to the public and our natural resources.
7.
Prepare
for and respond to public health emergencies and disasters
8. Effectively communicate internally and with external stakeholders about the activities, accomplishments of the Stanly County Health Department, and about important public health issues
Partial Listing of Stanly County Health Department
Health Officers/Health Directors
Dr. W. Nash McKenzie July 1, 1937 - February 16, 1945
Dr. M. B. Bethel (part-time) - February 17, 1945 - ?
Dr. Frank Wilson ? July 1947
Dr. R. E. (Eugene) Fox - July 1, 1948 August 31, 1962
Dr. Edward C. Humphrey 1963 - ?
Dr. George M. Leiby - August 1, 1966 July 1974
Mr. Beecher R. Gus Gray June 1, 1975 August 15, 1980
Mr. Lawrence Larry Pakowski November 17, 1980 October 6, 1983
Mr. Joseph Baird Barry Bass March 2, 1984 June 30, 1998
Mr. James A. Jim Jones October 12, 1998 April 29, 2005
Mr. Dennis R. Joyner June 13, 2005 - present
Partial Timeline of important events
at the
Stanly County Health Department
July 1, 1937 Stanly County Health Department fully organized
December 1, 1959 Set-up dog pound & hired first Dog Warden, Edgar E. Funderburk
November 15, 1962 Prenatal and Well-Baby clinics offered
May 1977 Held first Stanly County Food Sanitation School
March 1, 1978 Began Health Screening Outreach Clinic, a free health screening for adults 60 years old
& older
July 1981 Offered Women, Infants, & Children (WIC) Program
September 1, 1991 Offered HIV antibody testing
April 15, 2002 Established Pediatric Dental clinic
December 19, 2008 Stanly County Health Department accredited