Clark County Health Department and Partners Working Together to Provide Services in Abbotsford Including this Thursday

Monday, September 11th, 2023 -- 3:01 PM

The Clark County Health Department (CCHD) is pleased to announce that they have collaborated with neighboring health departments and other partners to provide services to community members in Abbotsford.

St. Bernard Catholic Church, Abbotsford Area Collaborative Team, and Feed My People Food Bank provide a drive-thru food pantry, along with other services, every Thursday from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM. Over 200 families participate every week.

As Public Health continues to transition out of the COVID-19 pandemic, the CCHD is taking steps to “meet people where they are,” a saying frequently spoken in the Public Health world these days.

After learning a large number of individuals are present at St. Bernard Catholic Church in Abbotsford weekly, the CCHD identified this as an opportunity to strengthen their connection with the community. The CCHD is located at the county seat in Neillsville, which is 41 miles away from Abbotsford. Given the distance, it can be difficult for individuals to access the services CCHD offers.

At the end of 2022, the CCHD contacted neighboring health departments to see if they would be interested in joining forces to provide services to individuals in the area, as both Marathon and Taylor County are border counties. Both partners were interested. The partners came up with a plan to offer services to all community members on an every-other-month basis.

Dates remaining in 2023 include (Thursdays): this Thursday, September 14th, as well as October 12th, and November 9th. The October 12th date was added to be able to provide flu shots to community members.

Partners will be in the basement of St. Bernard Catholic Church from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM on these dates. Services available include but are not limited to car seat safety checks, immunizations, water testing information, vision and hearing screenings, and more.

Available services provided by local health departments may vary based on county of residence. The local health departments want to give a special thank you to Father Tim Oudenhoven, along with his church and congregation, for allowing us to utilize their beautiful church building.

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.