The mission of public health is to prevent injury and illnesses and to promote health
as well as to protect our communities throughout Cass County.
So FOGR-Cas provides a large array of services and we have an equally large array of funding
streams that make those services available to the public. That will include our federal,
state, and county funders as well as fee for services, grants, and the city.
WIC and public health nursing are impactful programs for young families during the first
years of life. Providing support and food resources for families, the WIC program helps women,
infants, and children, families stay healthy by providing free nutritious foods, tips on eating
well, breastfeeding support, connections to community resources. It's all about giving
eligible families the support they need to grow strong and to thrive. The nursing team further
supports individuals later in life through our fit and strong program and home visits for our
adult home health clients. The immunization program in our public health nursing division
works all year long both at FOGR-Cas Public Health as well as through community outreach
to provide opportunities for community members to receive important immunizations.
The work of our harm reduction division implements evidence-based policies and practices across a
variety of our programs which include the Gladys Fray Shelter, Mobile and Street Outreach,
Homeless Engagement Assistance Response Team, and our Downtown Engagement Center.
If you enjoy dining at your favorite restaurant, getting a tattoo from a local artist, or beating
the heat by swimming in a public pool, rest assured that our environmental health division
is behind the scenes licensing and regulating these types of environments to provide peace of
mind for our community. The health promotion team members serve our community through tobacco
prevention policy and advocacy work. They're also actively engaged in various healthy living
initiatives including mental health, substance abuse, physical activity, nutrition, the prevention
of cancer, and childhood obesity. Our emergency preparedness division is ready to respond and
supports our community by providing training and support for long-term care facilities, group homes,
and shelters to ensure residents remain safe. The clinic at FOGR-Cas Public Health provides
various services for men and women including reproductive health, STD and STI counseling,
testing and treatment, immunizations, and screening for breast and cervical cancers.
The clinic staff participate in many outreach events throughout Cass County. The North Dakota
Ryan White and Women's Way programs are also based at FOGR-Cas Public Health. As part of our fee
for services, we work with people where they're at and that is if they can't pay for the entire
visit, we can make payments available and just whatever their income bracket is to help cover
the services that they need. In addition to meeting people where they're at financially,
we also want to meet them where they're at physically. That's going to include meeting
them at schools for immunizations or providing school nursing in addition to our adult nursing
division going into homes for home health care. We also provide services via telehealth for our WIC
and clinic services. Why do I believe in public health? And for me, it was having a long history
of being on the treatment side of mental health care specifically and in the hospital settings
that I've worked within. I really felt the need to get in front of the issues and knowing that
we could continue to provide treatment and more people would come and continue to receive treatment.
I really wanted to see what was in front of the need for treatment and to see if we could really
save those people from having to come down that path. And so for me, the prevention work that
public health offers is imperative and working towards promoting that and seeking positive
health. I think that is what really drives people towards that public health mission
truly to prevent, promote, and protect our public.