A Moment with Marley

Public Health Clinic Services

Listen Later

In this episode of A Moment with Marley, we would like to talk about our services offered to Meriden residents in our Public Health Clinic.

Our Public Health Clinic is located at 165 Miller Street and is open Monday through Friday from 8:00am to 4:30pm. Our team offers a variety of services to Meriden residents. Major activities include: 

  • Providing adult and child vaccinations including the seasonal flu shot. We are part of the Connecticut Vaccine Program and are able to offer no cost vaccines to children under the age of 18 regardless of their health insurance status. This is to ensure children in Meriden are protected against vaccine preventable diseases and are ready to enter daycare, preschool, Meriden Public Schools, or college/universities.
  • Conducting childhood blood lead screenings. Our Public Health Nurses screen children for lead. Early detection and intervention leads to better outcomes for children who may have elevated blood lead levels. If a child has an elevated blood lead screening, we then refer the family to our Environmental Health Office for follow up and education.
  • Managing school health charts. School health charts of withdrawn or graduated Meriden public school students are sent to us to be filed and kept as per state statutes for 6 years after the student leaves the district or graduates. Our staff enters vaccine records from these charts into CT Wiz, the Connecticut Immunization portal. Members of the public can then access their vaccine record electronically.
  • Medically clearing students for school entry, where per state law we ensure that students are up to date with required vaccines and have a recent physical for school entry.
  • Perform tuberculin skin testing, which screens for tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is a communicable disease that effects the lungs. Screenings are a tool we use to test for tuberculosis exposure to provide further follow up and referrals if needed.
  • Providing WIC certifications, including height, weight, hemoglobin and lead (as needed) for children up to 5 years of age. These are required by WIC offices to monitor and assess nutritional needs.

    • When not providing direct services to residents, our team is busy in the background ensuring Meriden stays healthy through disease surveillance and follow up. Staff monitor state disease surveillance systems for communicable diseases that are required to be reported to local health departments. We maintain data on these illnesses, identify trends and conduct follow up interviews when needed on certain illnesses or conditions. A full list of reportable diseases to local health departments is available on our website.

    Staff also manage active cases of tuberculosis, which can include direct observed therapy to ensure the resident is taking their prescribed medication to prevent the spread of disease.

    If you have questions about services offered or would like to schedule an appointment for services, please call (203) 630-4234.

    ...more
    View all episodesView all episodes
    Download on the App Store
    A Moment with MarleyBy Meriden DOH