A national formula shortage continues to affect families across the country. Our Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program has been working through this issue daily since a major formula recall in February and continues to provide services for about 1,400 infants in our program. The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services has this fact sheet, including resources, for helping families find formula during this shortage: https://www.hhs.gov/formula/index.html.
For families not part of our WIC program, the USDA Food and Nutrition Service program advises that only medical professionals are qualified to provide advice on acceptable alternatives to formulas that may currently be difficult to find. Please be sure to talk to your child’s pediatrician about safe and appropriate feeding alternatives for your child, if needed. The American Academy of Pediatrics offers these tips: https://healthychildren.org/English/tips-tools/ask-the-pediatrician/Pages/Are-there-shortages-of-infant-formula-due-to-COVID-19.aspx.
The USDA also offers some steps you can take to ensure the safety of your infant’s formula:
(En español) The Lexington-Fayette County Health Department will provide the FREE Moderna COVID-19 booster 2-4 p.m. Wednesday, April 20, at the Lexington Senior Center, 195 Life Lane.
First/second doses and first boosters are also available for ages 18 and older. To receive the first booster, you must have received your second dose at least five months ago.
Registration information
Each recipient MUST register in advance.
Only one person can register per account — everyone registering must enter a phone number or email.
Registration will close when all appointment slots are full. Every person who attends the clinic MUST be registered in advance.
Thank you for your interest in getting vaccinated. If you need assistance, please call our call center at 859-899-2222.
The Lexington-Fayette County Health Department’s Board of Health has selected Dr. Sharon Walsh and Lexington Battalion Chief Marc Bramlage as the 2022 Dr. Rice C. Leach Public Health Hero award winners. The award is given annually to individuals who have demonstrated their dedication to improving the health of Lexington residents. The winners are announced each April as part of National Public Health Week (April 4-10, 2022).
Sharon Walsh
Dr. Sharon Walsh on August 7, 2019. Photo by Pete Comparoni | UKphoto
Sharon Walsh, Ph.D., is a professor of Behavioral Science, Psychiatry, Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences in the Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy at the University of Kentucky and director of the Center on Drug and Alcohol Research. Dr. Walsh is the principal investigator on the landmark $87 million HEALing Communities Study, the largest grant ever received by UK, to reduce opioid overdose deaths.
Through her leadership of almost 100 HCS interdisciplinary team members (25 faculty, 70 staff), HCS has established partnerships with 27 behavioral, healthcare and 8 criminal justice agencies in Fayette County over the past year to implement an integrated set of evidence-based practices to combat the opioid epidemic. Fourteen new staff have been embedded in Fayette County agencies to expand capacity for medication treatment for opioid use disorder (MOUD), link and retain clients on MOUD, and have provided overdose education and distributed more than 4,600 naloxone units.
“I’m honored to receive the award created in memory of Rice C. Leach, a true public health hero committed to improving the health and well-being of Lexingtonians and all Kentuckians,” Walsh said. “Kentucky was one of the first and is among the states hardest hit by the nation’s opioid crisis. Combating this epidemic must happen in the communities where affected people live. The HEALing Communities Study team, in partnership with many state and community partners, is implementing evidence-based practices and removing barriers to care and recovery to turn the tide on the impact of opioid use in the Commonwealth and become a national model for reducing opioid overdose deaths.”
Marc Bramlage
Battalion Chief Marc Bramlage with the Lexington Fire Department March 2022.
Photo by Frank Handshoe
As Battalion Chief for Emergency Medical Services, Marc Bramlage has led his outstanding team through a variety of major and ongoing challenges, including fire and rescue, patient transport and overdose response, as well as many other problems first responders help solve every day.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Chief Bramlage has been in frequent and regular contact with the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department to ensure the teams work together to maximize response efforts. Without the support of Chief Bramlage and his team, LFCHD would not have had the resources necessary to conduct the large number of COVID-19 vaccination clinics held over the past 15 months. Thanks to the direct and continuing support of Chief Marc Bramlage, Fayette County has consistently enjoyed one of the highest vaccination rates in the state of Kentucky.
“It is an honor to be awarded for doing a job you love,” Bramlage said. “This award is an indication of the strong bond the Lexington Fire Department made with the health department to help protect the people of this community.”
Both winners will be recognized at the April 11 Board of Health meeting, at 5:45 p.m. at 650 Newtown Pike. They will also be honored at 6 p.m. April 14 by Mayor Linda Gorton at a Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council meeting.
Previously known as the Public Health Hero Award, the Board of Health renamed the award in 2016 in memory of the late Dr. Rice C. Leach, Lexington’s former Commissioner of Health who spent more than 50 years as a public health physician. Leach died April 1, 2016.
(En español)As of March 21, 2022, Lexington-Fayette County Health Department (LFCHD) will no longer be contacting each individual person who receives a positive test result for the COVID-19 infection.
This change in our practice was made after careful analysis of data and public health guidance. Public health experts agree that intensive universal case investigation and contact tracing are no longer optimal at this phase of the pandemic. LFCHD will focus on targeting investigations in high-risk settings, congregate settings and those serving vulnerable populations.
As part of our adjustments, we are encouraging businesses to seek alternatives to requiring an isolation or quarantine order from LFCHD as part of an employee’s sick leave documentation regarding COVID-19. Adjustments may include accepting a copy of a positive test result for an employee and restricting those exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms from working on site. LFCHD continues to encourage those who are exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 to isolate and wear a mask.
This change in our practice will mean the following for you:
LFCHD will no longer issue isolation and quarantine orders or releases for return to work and or school. If you need proof of your positive test result as a requirement for your employer or school setting, you may obtain a copy of your test result from the provider that ordered the test or from the laboratory that performed the test. You may be asked to complete a medical record request in order to receive a copy of your results.
If you have tested positive for COVID-19 or have been in contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, please follow the guidance provided by the Kentucky Department for Public Health (KDPH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Please notify your close contacts so they may begin to quarantine if indicated. Please refer to guidance provided by the CDC as to what is classified as a close contact.
If you have provided an email address to the provider that ordered the COVID-19 test or to the laboratory itself, and that email address is provided to the health department, you will receive an email survey.
If you would like to complete a survey, please email covidinterview@lfchd.org. Please provide a copy of your positive COVID-19 test result. If you obtained a positive COVID-19 test result from a home-performed test, LFCHD cannot accept that test result.
For questions or specific concerns about COVID-19, you may still call our COVID-19 call center at 859-899-2222 or visit our website for additional resources and guidance at www.lfchd.org.
LFCHD continues to offer same-day appointments for free COVID-19 vaccinations and boosters (Moderna or Pfizer) in our Public Health Clinic on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. Please call our Public Health Clinic at 859-288-2483 to schedule a same-day appointment.
If you are an employer experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak at your business and need assistance, please email us at covidexposure@lfchd.org.
A partir del 21 de marzo de 2022, el Departamento de Salud de Lexington-Condado de Fayette (LFCHD) ya no se comunicará con cada persona que reciba un resultado positivo de la prueba para la infección del COVID-19.
Este cambio en nuestro protocolo se realizó después de un análisis cuidadoso de los datos y las guías de salud pública. Los expertos en salud pública coinciden en que la investigación universal intensiva de casos y el rastreo de contactos ya no son óptimos en esta fase de la pandemia. LFCHD se centrará en dirigir las investigaciones en entornos congregados, de alto riesgo y aquellos que atienden a poblaciones vulnerables.
Como parte de nuestros ajustes, estamos alentando a las empresas a buscar otra alternativa para el requerimiento a sus empleados de una orden de aislamiento o cuarentena de LFCHD como parte de la documentación de ausencia por enfermedad por COVID-19. Los ajustes para los empleados pueden incluir el aceptar una copia de un resultado positivo a la prueba de COVID-19 y restringir que aquellos que exhiban síntomas de COVID-19 trabajen en el sitio de empleo. LFCHD continúa alentando a aquellos que presentan síntomas de COVID-19 a aislarse y usar una máscara.
Este cambio en nuestro protocolo significará lo siguiente para usted:
LFCHD ya no emitirá órdenes de aislamiento y cuarentena o liberaciones para el regreso al trabajo y/o la escuela. Si necesita un comprobante de su resultado positivo a la prueba como requisito para su empleador o entorno escolar, puede obtener una copia del resultado de su prueba con el proveedor que le ordenó la prueba o el laboratorio que realizó la prueba. Es posible que se le pida que complete una solicitud de registro médico para recibir una copia de sus resultados.
Si ha dado positivo al COVID-19 o ha estado en contacto con alguien que ha dado positivo al COVID-19, siga las instrucciones proporcionadas por el Departamento de Salud Pública de Kentucky (KDPH) https://govstatus.egov.com/kycovid19 y los Centros para el Control y la Prevención de Enfermedades (CDC siglas en inglés) https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html. Por favor, notifique a sus contactos cercanos para que puedan comenzar a ponerse en cuarentena si así se indica. Consulte la guía proporcionada por el CDC en cuanto a lo que se clasifica como un contacto cercano.
Si ha proporcionado una dirección de correo electrónico al proveedor que ordenó la prueba de COVID-19 o al propio laboratorio, y esa dirección de correo electrónico se le proporciona al departamento de salud, usted recibirá una encuesta por correo electrónico.
Si desea completar una encuesta, envíe un correo electrónico a covidinterview@lfchd.org. Proporcione una copia de su resultado positivo de la prueba de COVID-19. Si obtuvo un resultado positivo a la prueba de COVID-19 de una prueba realizada en el hogar, LFCHD no podrá aceptar el resultado de esa prueba.
Para preguntas o inquietudes específicas sobre COVID-19, aún puede llamar a nuestro centro de llamadas para el COVID-19 al 859-899-2222 o visitar nuestra página del web para obtener recursos y orientación adicional en www.lfchd.org.
LFCHD continúa ofreciendo citas para el mismo día en nuestra Clínica de Salud Pública para vacunas y refuerzos gratuitos contra el COVID-19 (Moderna o Pfizer) los lunes, miércoles y jueves. Llame a nuestra Clínica de Salud Pública al 859-288-2483 para programar una cita el mismo día.
Si usted es un empleador que está experimentando un brote de COVID-19 en su negocio y necesita ayuda, envíenos un correo electrónico a covidexposure@lfchd.org.
If you are not yet vaccinated, or haven’t completed the series including the booster dose, we have the COVID-19 vaccines available by same-day appointment every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday by calling 859-288-2483.
Thank you, Lexington, for doing your part during this worldwide pandemic!
The FDA is advising consumers not to use Similac, Alimentum, or EleCare powdered infant formulas if:
the first two digits of the code are 22 through 37; and
the code on the container contains K8, SH or Z2; and
the expiration date is 4-1-2022 (APR 2022) or later.
Learn more, including how to check your lot number, at www.similacrecall.com/us/en/home.html. You can also call 1-800-986-8540 for more information. Lexington WIC participants can also call 859-288-2483.
Radon is an odorless, colorless, radioactive gas, and is the second leading cause of lung cancer. If you live in Fayette County, you can get a FREE radon test kit through our Environmental Health division. Tests can only be picked up in person at the health department (650 Newtown Pike) 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday. You must provide a Fayette County address to get a kit.
Lexington officially has a new Commissioner of Health.
Dr. Joel McCullough joined the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department on Feb. 14, with a Valentine’s Day full of meetings, greeting his team and planning how to continue the department’s mission of helping Lexington be well.
Dr. McCullough has extensive history in public health, including time as a medical epidemiologist for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and as medical director of environmental health for the Chicago Department of Public Health. He describes himself as “someone who focuses on the health and well-being of people and the communities that I serve.”
“Lexington will continue with strong public health leadership with Dr. McCullough joining us as the next Commissioner of Health,” said Michael Friesen, chair of the Lexington-Fayette County Board of Health. “We are excited about the next steps for public health in central Kentucky.”
Dr. McCullough earned an undergraduate degree from Stanford University and a medical degree from the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. He has a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Washington.
Dr. McCullough replaces Dr. Kraig Humbaugh, who had served as commissioner of health since June 2016.
For additional information on the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department, follow us on social media: Facebook.com/LFCHD, Twitter.com/LFCHD and Instagram.com/lexpublichealth.
