N E W R I V E R H E A LT H D I S T R I C T
About
The New River Health District, one of the Virginia Department of Health’s (VDH) 35 health districts, is comprised of Floyd, Giles, Montgomery and Pulaski counties and the City of Radford. The district’s environmental health program provides site evaluation and permits for on-site sewage disposal (septic systems) and wells, inspection of restaurants, schools, day care centers, summer camps and festivals to ensure food safety, rabies investigation and follow-up, and general environmental complaint investigations.
New River Health District
The Health District provides services in local health department clinics, schools, homes and at other sites in the community to prevent and control the spread of contagious diseases, including child and adult immunizations, immunizations for overseas travel, well baby care, and family planning. Other services include provision of the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program, distribution of free car safety seats to eligible families, Resource Mothers Program and health education services.
Highlights • The district received Project Public Health Ready (PPHR) certification from the National Association of County and City Health Officials. PPHR is a criteria-based training and recognition program that assesses local health department capacity and capability to plan for, respond to, and recover from public health emergencies. • The environmental health team achieved conformance with Standard 3 and Standard 5 of the FDA’s Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Food Program Standards. Standard 3 establishes an inspection program based on Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) Principles while Standard 5 addresses the department’s ability to identify and respond to Foodborne Outbreaks and Food Defense. • As one of the leaders of the New River Valley COVID-19 Task Force, the health district utilized staff throughout the NRV to: • Create and continue to manage a COVID-19 call center to support the New River Valley community by answering questions, assessing personal risk factors, receiving complaints, and scheduling for testing. • Offer community testing for COVID-19 via drive-thru clinics, multiple times per week. • Maintain our relationship with Virginia Tech under the academic health department, utilizing support for COVID-19 response. • Expand and better utilize our volunteer base, the Medical Reserve Corps. • Assist the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute in transitioning from a research lab to a clinical lab to run COVID RT-PCR tests, including future preparations for saliva testing. • Collaborate with long-term care facilities for testing of residents and staff and assisted with management of COVID-19 cases and outbreaks. • Work with Virginia Tech, Radford University, New River Community College, and local public school systems on mitigation plans, exercises and containment strategies. • Facilitate testing of college student athletes and staff. • Work with localities regarding mitigation and testing plans for staff, including first responders, public NEW RIVER HEALTH DISTRICT : 211
