Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 8, 1994 TAG: 9412080046
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Alleghany Health District and the Roanoke Health Department applied three months ago for $170,000 that the U.S. Department of Agriculture sets aside for agencies that administer the Women, Infants and Children program.
The clinic would have integrated WIC services with other health services that WIC participants might receive, including immunizations and screenings.
The proposal was one of 25 submitted by the Virginia Department of Health to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Five applications were for mobile clinics, including one in the New River Valley. None of the mobile-clinic proposals was approved.
Walt Haake, public-affairs director for the Mid-Atlantic region of the USDA's Food and Consumer Service, said the region had $7 million in discretionary funds to allocate this year and $14 million in requests.
"Mobile clinics are a fairly expensive proposition, in the neighborhood of $170,000,'' Haake said. "We had to look at how we could stretch money as best we could. One [mobile clinic] could eat up a lot of that money."
Fourteen proposals from Virginia, totaling $1.4 million, were approved. They range from programs providing outreach to WIC clients with disabilities to programs promoting breast-feeding.
One approved proposal will provide $1 million to begin upgrading the system that the state uses to issue checks to WIC participants. The upgrade, now in its first year, is a three-year effort costing an estimated $4 million.
"When there's not as much money to spread around, we have to look at those that have the most impact for the fewest dollars," Haake said.
WIC, administered in Virginia by the state Health Department, is intended to help improve the health of women during pregnancy and improve the food habits and general health of women, infants and children. The program does so through nutrition and health education, health services and providing specifically selected foods.
Judy Garrett, public health nutritionist for the Alleghany Health District, said she wasn't ready to give up on the mobile clinic idea.
"If there are other avenues to get the mobile clinic up, we'd certainly be interested in pursuing them," she said.
Eligible families are those whose income meets state WIC guidelines. A family of four with an annual income of $27,380 would qualify for the program. Garrett emphasized that WIC is not welfare but help for many people who "work but just don't make enough money to do what they need for their families."
The Alleghany Health District-which covers Vinton, Salem and the counties of Roanoke, Botetourt, Craig and Alleghany-reaches 60 percent of district residents eligible for WIC; the Roanoke Health Department, 50 percent of eligible city residents.
The mobile clinic would have helped the agencies reach more people who need WIC services, particularly those in rural areas.
by CNB