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Early childhood screenings help children live longer, healthier lives. The Early and Periodic Screening Diagnosis and Treatment program, or EPSDT, is designed to make sure that a child is screened for a wide range of medical conditions. EPSDT services provide a comprehensive look at the child including physical, mental and social issues. The EPSDT program makes sure that all children receive the treatment they need to improve/maintain their health. Children from birth to age 21 can get Well Child/EPSDT services. The EPSDT program checks children for medical problems early. These checkups make sure your children are growing up healthy. If a problem is found early, it can be treated and monitored.
- Medical History and Physical Exam
- Growth and Development check (social, personal, language and motor skills)
- Vision Screens
- Hearing Screens
- Dental Screens
- Nutrition
- Lab tests, including blood lead level
- Mental health and substance abuse
- Immunizations
- Health education for parents
- Referral for diagnosis and/or treatment when needed
During some checkups, children need immunizations. Immunizations are shots that help the body fight disease. Each shot fights a different disease. Children must have all the shots they need before they can start school. Check with your Primary Care Provider to be sure your child has received all the shots he/she needs.
The Graves County Health Department is dedicated to the continued good health of all citizens through all seasons of the year.
Special focus is given during the winter months when colds, influenza, pneumonia and viruses are on the increase.
We provide:
- Annual influenza (flu) vaccine
- Tetanus vaccine every 10 years or as needed.
The Graves County Health Department, in an ongoing effort to ensure the good health of all women past childbearing years, provides the following cancer screening services:
- PAP smear & pelvic examination;
- Breast exam and instruction on breast self-exam; and
- Arrangements can be made for a yearly mammogram for those 40 years and over, if financial guidelines are met.
If the client is not covered by Medicaid, a small fee may apply.
If you or a family member have been diagnosed with, have a history of and/or are being treated for diabetes, the Graves County Health Department can provide:
- Monitoring of blood sugar;
- Education on diet, exercise and medication as prescribed by your physician;
- Screen for persons with risk factors for diabetes.
We provide:
- Prevention activities for individuals, schools and the community;
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Other services provided by the Graves County Health Department includes:
- Recording of all births and deaths in Graves County;
- Providing verification of births and deaths;
- Tracking statistical data regarding communicable diseases, causes of death, ages of mothers, etc.
Tuberculosis (TB) is caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The bacteria usually attack the lungs, but TB bacteria can attack any part of the body such as the kidney, spine, and brain. If not treated properly, TB disease can be fatal.
TB is spread through the air from one person to another.
TB bacteria can live in body without making you sick. This is called latent TB infection. In most people who breathe in TB bacteria and become infected, the body is able to fight the bacteria to stop them from growing. People with latent TB infection do not feel sick and do not have any symptoms. People with latent TB infection are not infectious and cannot spread TB bacteria to others. However, if TB bacteria becomes active in the body and multiply, the person will go from having latent TB infection to being sick with TB disease.
TB bacteria becomes active is the immune system can’t stop them from growing. When TB bacteria are active (multiplying in your body), this is called TB disease. People with TB disease are sick. They may also be able to spread the bacteria to people they spend time with every day. Many people who have latent TB infection never develop TB disease. Some people develop TB disease soon after becoming infected (within weeks) before their immune system can fight the TB bacteria. Other people may get sick years later when their immune system becomes weak for another reason. For people whose immune systems are weak, especially those with HIV infection, the risk of developing TB disease is much higher than for people with normal immune systems.
Tuberculosis is an airborne disease, which primarily affects the lungs but can also affect other organs. People who are infected with TB are not contagious until their infection develops into active TB disease. The symptoms of tuberculosis include: Coughing up blood, weakness, loss of appetite, chest pains, anorexia, weight loss, chills, failure to thrive, abnormal chest x-ray, night sweats, fever, difficulty breathing, cough, and shortness of breath.
The Graves County Health Department carries out tuberculosis control activities under the guidance of the Kentucky Tuberculosis Control program. The goals of this program are to:
Graves County Health Department works toward these goals through TB control activities in our community. Control activities include, but are not limited to, TB testing, TB assessment, disease surveillance, and administration/observation of drug therapies.
TB tests are generally not needed for people with a low risk of infection with TB bacteria.
Certain people should be tested for TB bacteria because they are more likely to get TB disease, including:
- People who have spent time with someone who has TB disease
- People with HIV infection or another medical problem that weakens the immune system
- People who have symptoms of TB disease (fever, night sweats, cough, and weight loss)
- People from a country where TB disease is common (most countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Russia)
- People who live or work somewhere in the United States where TB disease is more common (homeless shelters, prison or jails, or nursing homes)
- People who use illegal drugs
- Healthcare workers
Ongoing tuberculosis education as recommended by the state.
Info taken from the CDC website.
Testing for TB Infection There are two kinds of tests that can be used to help detect TB infection – the TB skin test (TST) and TB blood tests. A positive TB skin test or TB blood test only tells that a person has been infected with TB bacteria. Other tests, such as a chest x-ray and a sample of sputum, are needed to see whether the person has TB disease.
*Mantoux tuberculin skin test The Mantoux tuberculin skin test is performed by injecting a small amount of fluid (called tuberculin) into the skin in the lower part of the arm. A person given the tuberculin skin test must return within 48 to 72 hours to have a trained health care worker look for a reaction on the arm.
*TB blood tests TB blood tests (also called interferon-gamma release assays or IGRAS) measure how the immune system reacts to the bacteria that cause TB. Only one visit is required to draw blood for the test, however, the local health department does not offer this blood test. The QuantiFERON-TB Gold test (QFT-G), QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube test (GFT-GIT) and T-SPOT TB test are three Food and Drug Administration approved TB blood tests. Test results are generally available in 24-48 hours.
For more detailed information about TB, please contact our health center 270-247-3553 or get more information from the Center for Disease Control.
The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) is a short-term intervention program designed to influence lifetime nutrition and health behavior in high-risk populations. WIC is funded by the United States Department of Agriculture.
The main goal of the WIC program is to protect or improve the health/nutritional status of low-income women, infants, and children. WIC provides nutrition education and services, breastfeeding promotion/education, a monthly food prescription of nutritious foods, and access to maternal, prenatal, and pediatric health care services.
If you are pregnant, recently had a baby, are breastfeeding or have a child younger than 5 years of age, the WIC program may be available to you if you meet the eligibility criteria.
For more information about the WIC program and its eligibility criteria, please call us at 270-247-3553.
To learn more about healthy eating, visit My Plate here.
Breastfeeding is encouraged as the preferred feeding for all infants, including premature newborns. Breast milk has many benefits for both mother and baby. Breastfed infants have decreased risk of diabetes, asthma, allergies, and ear infections.
Our health department supports breastfeeding in a variety of ways. We have a designated breastfeeding promotion coordinator who collaborates with local health care providers and businesses to provide information and support for all demographics of mothers and families. Some examples of information that we provide to the community are attendance at local health fairs, media campaigns, and providing up to date resources for local health care providers.
WIC promotes, supports and encourages mothers to breastfeed their babies as it has been shown to provide many health, nutrition, and emotional benefits to both mothers and babies. Currently, more than half of the nation’s infants are on WIC.
The WIC program provides pregnant and postpartum women with breastfeeding support and information to make the best informed decisions for their health as well as their new babies.
La Leche League
CDC on Breastfeeding
USDA Nondiscrimination Statement (English and Spanish)
Free Language Assistance & Other Aids and Services Available
Graves County Health Department provides counseling and testing to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV infection.
Our health center offer patients tests for genital herpes (open lesions only, herpes blood testing is not available at this health center), gonorrhea, chlamydia, Trichomoniasis (“Trich”), HIV, and syphilis. It also provides treatment for patients diagnosed with, exposed to or suspected of having these diseases. These services are not free and a nominal fee for each test will be charged. Call for more information, services are available on designated days at the health center by appointment.
Our health center offers HIV counseling and testing. Testing can be done confidentially or anonymously.
For information about STD/HIV prevention and testing, please contact our health center.
Get more information about STD testing from the Center for Disease Control here.
The Family Planning Program has a free male condom distribution service we call the "Brown Bag Program".
The "Brown Bag Program" is an anonymous condom distribution program developed primarily to overcome the barriers of condom usage such as cost, embarrassment and misunderstanding by adolescents of their rights regarding condom purchase.
Condoms are placed in a small brown bag, along with a pamphlet, How to Use a Condom, and literature on STDs. Emphasis is placed on permitting individuals to pick up a bag without requiring registration, counseling or discussion. The main objective is to decrease pregnancies as well as STDs for those persons who are already sexually active. The brown bags are in an easily accessible place in the waiting rooms and front desk.
This is a cooperative effort of the Kentucky Family Planning and Sexually Transmitted Disease Programs.
Project Zero offers medical and social support services for HIV-positive residents of Kentucky. Care Coordinators serve as medical case managers that facilitate HIV wellness by removing barriers.
Learn more about the Ryan White Part B Program here.
For more information contact Alicia Thompson, RN via phone at 270-247-3553 x 214 or via email at AliciaK.Thompson@ky.gov
Vaccines to prevent preventable diseases (diphtheria, tetanus, measles, mumps, rubella, whooping cough, Hepatitis B, HiB) are available. Call your local health department for an appointment. To learn more about when your child should receive his/her immunizations, visit the links provided at the bottom of the page or on the links page.
The Flu and COVID-19 are both contagious respiratory illnesses that can result in serious health issues for those not protected by vaccination.
Staying up to date on routine vaccinations such as Flu and COVID-19 is the best way to protect the body from serious diseases. These vaccinations may even be given on the same day.
Kentucky Public Health Flu & COVID-19 Vaccination Toolkit PDF.
Learn More about the Flu Vaccine.
Measles, Mumps, Rubella and Varicella (Chicken Pox) are viruses that spread easily between children and adults. These viruses can be serious, even life-threatening, especially in babies, adolescents, adults, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems. Cases of measles and mumps have increased in the past several years and most of the reported cases occurred in people who were unvaccinated.
Vaccination is the best protection from the serious illness caused by these viruses.
There is no cure for measles, mumps, rubella or varicella, but these viruses can be prevented by vaccination.
The MMR and the MMRV vaccinations have been a trusted source of protection for several decades.
Multiple studies have shown that the MMR, MMRV, and varicella vaccinations are safe and effective at preventing serious illnesses caused by these viruses.
For more information go to: www.immunize.org or www.cdc.gov/vaccines/index.html.
The Vaccines For Children program provides free vaccines to doctors who serve eligible children. This program is administered through the CDC National Immunization Program which contracts with vaccine manufacturers to buy vaccines at reduced rates. State and U.S. health projects enroll physicians who serve eligible patients through age 18, providing routine immunizations with little or no out-of-pocket costs to the parent.
Adult immunizations are available by individual appointment at our health center. Certain vaccines, such as influenza, tetanus and pneumococcal, need to be given at regular intervals during adulthood. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has prepared a guide for adult immunizations here. Tetanus vaccines are available from the Health Department year-round. Influenza vaccine is available just before and during flu season, usually beginning in the months of September/October. Information will be available on this website, media, social media, newspapers and flyers with flu clinic schedules. For more information call (270) 247-3553.
If you have ever received a vaccination at our health center, the Health Department should still have a copy of the immunization record. If you are searching for an immunization record and believe you received the vaccination through the Health Department, contact the health center where you received the vaccine.
If you received a vaccination outside of the Health Department, there are a few options for obtaining an immunization record. Contact the care provider who administered the vaccination. They should have an immunization record. If that does not work, www.vaccineinformation.org has helpful tips to assist you in tracking down immunization records.
If you need to transfer immunization records onto an immunization certificate for school or day care, you can do so by bringing the immunization record to our health center and requesting the certificate. This usually takes 24 to 48 hours. For more information, call our health center at (270) 247-3553.
The Commonwealth of Kentucky updated its regulation, 902 KAR 2:060, concerning immunization schedules for all public and private school students, and homeschooled students who participate in any public or private school activities. The new vaccine schedule requires two doses of Hepatitis A vaccine and all students age 16 and older to have two doses of the meningococcal vaccine.
The Graves County Health Department has been routinely vaccinating children with Hepatitis A vaccine since 2006 at age 12 and 18 months. Kentucky has been requiring 6th graders to get the meningococcal vaccine since July 2011. A booster dose is now being required at the age of 16. If the first dose of meningococcal is received at age 16 or older only one dose is required. If your child has been receiving vaccines on schedule at our facility they should already meet this new requirement.
Your child’s health and the public health of our community is of utmost importance to us. We encourage parents to be proactive and begin fulfilling this requirement with us or your private provider now rather than waiting until the last minute. These requirements officially go into effect July 1, 2018. The Graves County Health Department follows the CDC recommendation of vaccines required for all children. View the most recent immunization schedule in this PDF.
You can now access your or your minor's official immunization record through the secure Kentucky Immunization Registry (KYIR) Public Portal.
KYIR Public Portal is a free service of the Kentucky Department for Public Health that allows individuals, parents and legal guardians to access official immunization records from KYIR.
KYIR Public Portal users have many options to choose from once accessing the portal. Those options include the ability to download a PDF copy of their immunization record and a school certificate for students younger than 18.
Access the the KYIR Public Portal at https://kyirpublicportal.ky.gov/.
The Kentucky Women’s Cancer Screening Program offers breast and cervical cancer screenings, diagnostic and treatment services. These services are provided to women who meet income eligibility requirements and who do not have health insurance to cover the cost. This program is part of the Centers for Disease Control’s National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program.
Through the Graves County Health Department, women may receive a mammogram, a breast exam by a health professional, a Pap test, and a pelvic exam. These tests are performed following the recommendation of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. If any abnormal results are found, the woman is then eligible for follow-up diagnostic services. If cancer or pre-cancerous conditions are diagnosed, the woman may be eligible for Medicaid coverage for treatment.
For more information regarding eligibility requirements for this program, please click on the link below or call your local health center.
Get more information about the HPV Vaccine.
Get more information about the Komen Foundation and Celebrating Life!
The family planning program at Graves County Health Department offers counseling and education on pregnancy prevention, contraception, pregnancy planning and care prior to conception.
Other services include:
Services are available on designated days at the health center by appointment.
The Family Planning Program has a free male condom distribution service we call the "Brown Bag Program".This is a cooperative effort of the Kentucky Family Planning and Sexually Transmitted Disease Programs.
The "Brown Bag Program" is an anonymous condom distribution program developed primarily to overcome the barriers of condom usage such as cost, embarrassment and misunderstanding by adolescents of their rights regarding condom purchase.
Condoms are placed in a small brown bag, along with a pamphlet, How to Use a Condom, and literature on STDs. Emphasis is placed on permitting individuals to pick up a bag without requiring registration, counseling or discussion. The main objective is to decrease pregnancies, as well as STDs, for those persons who are already sexually active. The brown bags are in an easily accessible place in the waiting rooms and front desk.
In Kentucky, 15 percent of pregnant women fail to receive critical prenatal care until after their first trimester. Regular prenatal care is proven to reduce many health risks to both mother and child. Early detection and management of potentially high-risk pregnancies can also make a significant impact on reducing the overall cost of delivering health care to the financially needy citizens of Kentucky.