Health Navigation

Our three health navigators can connect you with resources to meet your needs. We hold a very broad view of health and well-being; our team has found resources for anything from getting to a medical appointment to safe & affordable housing. Navigators can meet with you in your home, at our office, or over the phone. This program is available to anyone living in Dallas County at no cost. 

Environmental Health

Our environmental health team works hard to assure we can enjoy Dallas County without being exposed to things that will harm our health.

Programs include:

• Septic system inspections & permitting
• Private well inspections & permitting
• Well testing, reconstructions, & closures
• Public pool inspections
• Tattoo facility inspections
• Animal bite follow-up
• Rural recycling

Immunizations

Our immunization coordinator assures that Dallas County residents have access to vaccines that will prevent disease. Through the Vaccines for Children program, any child on Medicaid, with insurance that doesn't cover vaccines, with no insurance, or identifying as Native American or Alaska Native can receive their routine childhood vaccines at no cost. Flu and COVID-19 vaccines for adults are also offered at our bi-monthly clinic. 

Our team also audits immunization records at all our schools and licensed childcare centers to make sure that every student has either a complete immunization record or an exemption on file.

Communicable Disease

Did you know that many infectious diseases are required to be reported in Iowa? Once reported, our team calls those that are sick to learn more about how they became sick. If we are able to identify a source, we can remove it so that others in our community don't become ill. We investigate many food and water borne illnesses (like e.coli) as well as germs that spread very easily (like norovirus). 

We also offer case management for Tuberculosis (TB). Any person with active TB receives daily directly-observed therapy (DOT) and those with latent TB are offered medications to prevent them from acquiring active TB in the future.

Community Health

Every three years, in partnership with local health care systems, we assess the health of Dallas County, identify our top health priorities, and create an action plan to work on those priorities. Our Dallas County Health Improvement Plan is available on our website and can be used by anyone wanting to improve health in our county. Staff work with partners across the county to address the goals in this plan. 

We also provide health education on our social media platforms, through our monthly newsletter & health promotion messages, and at in-person events such as health fairs or our quarterly Community Health Speaker Series. 

Emergency Preparedness

We are all too familiar with public health emergencies, right? Well, our team actually prepares for them year round writing plans, developing partnerships with key stakeholders, and running drills to help our team practice. Each member of our team also completes extra training for a specific role during a public health emergency.