Clark County Health Department's "Get Yourself Tested" Campaign, Part 4
Thursday, July 28th, 2016 -- 9:12 AM
-The Clark County Health Department is encouraging county residents to get tested for STI’s.I spoke with Kelsey Lynn, a nurse at Clark County’s Reproductive Health Clinic, and Melissa Kono, the county’s CNRED agent, about an initiative they’re running known as they “Get Yourself Tested” Initiative. Kelsey explained more barriers people face when it comes to getting tested, extended clinic hours to provide the test and the cost.
"Of course, concerns about confidentiality, especially for our clients who are under the age of 18. And with that I will say that in the State of Wisconsin, minors, or those under the age of 18, legally have the right to consent to sexual health care services without the consent of their parents. Another barrier could potentially be the inability to pay, lack of transportation, long waiting times, conflicts between clinic hours and school or work schedules."
"Fortunately, we are going to provide late testing hours at the clinic in Greenwood on Thursday, August 18th from 4pm-6:30pm and then again on Tuesday, August 23rd from 4pm-6:30pm. So, the testing, the free testing, would be done at our clinic, the Reproductive Health Services at our Family Planning Clinic in Greenwood. And then if that result came back positive, what you would do is sign a consent to release form prior to undergoing the testing. And then if that did come back positive, I would be able to communicate with a provider at Memorial Medical Center and they would be able to write you a prescription and you can purchase that at a low cost of $5-$6. But again, the testing portion would be completely free."
Coming up on Friday, Kelsey and Melissa will talk about why people need to be willing to discuss this topic regardless of how uncomfortable the conversation may be.
In Case You Missed It:
Part 1: http://cwbradio.com/news/?fn_mode=fullnews&fn_id=17122
Part 2: http://cwbradio.com/news/?fn_mode=fullnews&fn_id=17125
Part 3: http://cwbradio.com/news/?fn_mode=fullnews&fn_id=17131
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.