Harrison County Health Department

Well Child Clinic

Our Well-Child Clinic continues to be an important source of wellness for all the pre-school children of Harrison County.  We have 125 children enrolled at this time and saw a total of 285 children in 2006 during 15 clinics.

Once and sometimes twice a month, here at the Health Department, our clinics run all day by appointment.  The children go through various steps.  First they are weighed, measured, and their temperature is checked.  Depending on age, a urine sample may be collected at this time.  Next we do the Denver II developmental screening, which helps health providers detect potential developmental problems in young children.  The test is designed to compare a given child’s performance on a variety of tasks to the performance of other children the same age.  The parent’s fill out a diet history and nutritional counseling and advice is given.  The child is then given a health physical by our clinician, Denise Jennings RNFNPC.  If needed, referrals are made for specialized services.  Parents as Teachers, Dentist’s and Children’s Mercy Hospital specialist’s are examples of just a few referrals.  Starting at 6 months, we do lead risk assessment surveys and at one year of age do a lead test with filter paper with parental consent.  A hemoglobin test for iron levels is also done at this time.  Vision and hearing screenings are given to 3-5 year olds unless a problem develops earlier.  Parents are given an age related anticipatory guideline handout at every well child visit.  This gives them a guideline of what their child should be doing now and in the next few months.  It also provides activities that help with small and large muscle strength and coordination, speech and language, problem-solving skills, love, self-care and socialization.  Immunizations are then given according to protocol.

 All children, with or without medical insurance coverage, birth through 5, will continue to be seen through the well-child program as long as funding and the availability of a clinician continues.

Christine Rucker, LPN
Well-Child Clinic Coordinator