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It's OK to wear a mask
Public health officials around the country are reminding people that it's OK and appropriate to mask up. This is especially true entering the season of holiday parties and family gatherings.
COVID-19 continues to spread, and it's joined this fall and winter by higher levels of flu and RSV. All three are respiratory illnesses spread by saliva and droplets produced when people talk, cough, sneeze, and even breathe.
One sure-fire way to slow the spread of all three is to wear a quality, well-
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Children do best with their families. Children thrive when they are safe, nurtured, and loved.
All children deserve to live in a safe, nurturing environment. They deserve to have their needs met – a home, food, clothing, medical care, and education. They deserve a chance to be
As COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are declining in Idaho and the United States, more attention is being focused on what has been called “long COVID,” “post-COVID conditions,” or “long-haul COVID,” among other names.
Long COVID is still being studied, but it has a
Given an increased interest in the child welfare system, I would like to share a bit of the process and the role of the Department of Health and Welfare (DHW).
First, I need to be clear that specific child welfare cases are confidential, and we cannot release any details about
Idaho is working to reduce a concerning increase in overdoses and overdose-related deaths. Fentanyl-related overdose deaths are on a dramatic rise in Idaho.
To help address the impacts of fentanyl, Gov. Brad Little is launching an initiative called Operation Esto Perpetua with
As the director of the Department of Health and Welfare, one of the most meaningful things I do is sign legal adoption forms for Idaho foster children. I always do it at the end of the day because it leaves me very emotional. I have read every one of the over 1,000 adoptions
Getting screened for colorectal cancer is something Idahoans aged 45 and older should consider because it is the second-leading cause of cancer deaths among adults in Idaho. In fact, 3,194 cases of malignant colorectal cancer were diagnosed among Idahoans from 2015-2019, and
During 2021, we continued to serve Idahoans during the pandemic. Even though COVID-19 dominated the airwaves and remained top of mind for our employees and the public, there were many other services to provide and needs to be met. Whatever the need is – financial, physical, or
Things are looking better on the COVID-19 front than they have in a long time, and we’re all ready to shed some of those precautions we’ve been taking for so long. However, the virus is still circulating, and we need to continue to manage our risk.
It’s important
Making progress toward Strategic Goal 4: Strengthen the public’s trust and confidence in the Department of Health and Welfare
Protecting the health, safety, and independence of Idaho’s most vulnerable populations is a crucial task entrusted to Department of Health and Welfare (
At the Department of Health and Welfare, we have a new and important program called Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD). It is designed to increases awareness of risk-reduction and early-detection methods for Idahoans when it comes to Alzheimer’s Disease and related
As of Feb. 14, there are at least 32,100 outstanding positive lab reports that have not been reviewed by the local public health districts. Many of those lab records will result in new cases of COVID-19 being added to the dashboard. However, some reports are additional test