St. Joseph County Department of Health

Our team is waking up each morning with one vision: a healthy St. Joseph County. We’re working in every corner of the county we call home to prevent disease, promote physical and mental health, and protect our shared future. Watch our new film: youtu.be/NNoYgVJ0fRM

Katie Van Tornhout faced one of the most devastating experiences a parent can endure: the loss of a child. She honors her daughter Callie's memory by educating other parents about Pertussis (whooping cough) and the importance of the DTaP vaccine for infants and young children, as well as the Tdap vaccine for pregnant women, teens, and adults. Babies should get their DTaP vaccines and boosters at 2, 4, 6, and 12 months to help protect them against Diphtheria, Tetanus, and Pertussis. To schedule your child's immunizations, head to in.gov/localhealth/st…

Every day, local students in St. Joseph County go without items they may need to succeed, but you can help make all the difference! Together, we can get kids out of the nurse's office and back in the classroom. 📚🍎📝

December 5th (checks notes) is Bathtub Party Day! With the weather getting colder, this funny-sounding holiday has a good message; instead of taking a typical shower, take a warming and healing bath with Epsom salts, lavender, and/or eucalyptus oil. A steamy bath can help clear your sinuses, and the warm water will also aid in reducing inflammation in joints or sore muscles, moisturize skin (with the addition of essential oils), and help reduce stress. With the holidays right around the corner and cold and flu season underway, it's important to prioritize your health and well-being, and one of the best ways to unwind after a long day at work is a good soak in the tub. #bathtubpartyday #splishsplash

The first week of December is National Handwashing Awareness Week! Handwashing is a simple yet effective method for preventing illness and reducing the spread of disease. Good handwashing practices start with wetting your hands with warm water, using soap to create a lather, and scrubbing hands for at least 20 seconds, including between fingers and under fingernails, before rinsing and drying with a clean towel. Soap and water do not kill germs, but they do wash them away, and you should wash your hands before cooking or eating food, after using the restroom, after playing with pets, and after coughing or sneezing. You can also limit the spread of germs from coughing or sneezing by "catching your cough" in your sleeve, otherwise known as the "vampire cough." #WashYourHands #HandHygieneforAll #spreadlovenotgerms

December 2-6 is National Influenza Vaccination Week, and while cold and flu season has already begun, it's not too late to get your immunizations. The CDC estimates that in 2023-2024, the flu shot prevented 3.7 million flu-related medical visits and over 100,000 flu-related hospitalizations. To help protect you and your family against the flu this winter, schedule your immunizations with the St. Joseph County Department of Health in.gov/localhealth/st…

November 17-23 is Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, and today, we’re discussing the opioid pandemic and how it affects not only our homeless population but our community as a whole. While anyone can be affected by opioid overdose, its effects are felt more significantly by those experiencing homelessness, in part because of limited access to basic medical resources and lingering stigma around addiction and homelessness. The St. Joseph County Department of Health provides opioid overdose reversal medication, naloxone, to the community, intending to reduce overdose deaths and give those who experience overdose a second chance. Experts say carrying this medication is no different than carrying an EpiPen out of concern for someone with life-threatening allergies. Medical professionals suggest adding naloxone to your first-aid kit at home or in your business because an opioid overdose can affect anybody in our community. Between September 2018 and March 2023, SAMHSA distributed over 8 million opioid overdose reversal kits, resulting in over 500,000 overdose reversals. That’s half a million opportunities for people experiencing an overdose to live another day. You can pick up naloxone at the St. Joseph County Department of Health at our South Bend or Mishawaka locations. In the coming weeks, dozens of boxes will be placed around St. Joseph County, and an interactive map is now up on our website and (will soon be on) the County’s 311 app. With the holiday season fast approaching, having naloxone readily available can provide an extra layer of protection against PREVENTABLE opioid-involved overdoses, meaning someone could get a second chance at addiction recovery and that everyone has a seat at the table this Thanksgiving. For a list of current boxes and boxes soon to be placed around St. Joseph County, head to in.gov/.../st.-joseph… We all deserve a memorable holiday season. #endhomelessness #HHweek #homefortheholidays

What a great (and busy) Tuesday night! Our team saw many families and children at the South Bend Police Department's Cops and Goblins event at the Century Center. 7,000 trick-or-treaters swarmed downtown South Bend last night, so many that the event got pushed an hour past its original 7:30 end time, but every single one left with a big bag full of Halloween goodies 📷 We also signed up around 30 children for lead screenings to help keep children in St. Joseph County healthy and lead-free. Thanks again to SBPD for creating this magical evening for so many local kids. To schedule your child (6 and under) or your home for lead testing, head to in.gov/.../stjosep...…

What a great weekend! Numerous local organizations joined us in North Liberty for our Health and Wellness Fair on Saturday, and we joined South Bend Venues Parks & Arts at Howard Park for Fusion Fest on Sunday! After receiving feedback from community members, we wanted to bring quality care and health services to better serve rural St. Joseph County residents, and that's why we partnered with Saint Joseph Health System, Beltone Hearing, CareSource, Unity Gardens Inc., Mental Health Awareness of Michiana, 1st Source Bank, WorkOne Northern Indiana, 4C Health, Walkerton Lincoln Township Public Library, FalconFire Community Studio, and Narcotic Anonymous. Thank you all for what you do to make St. Joseph County a better place for all visitors and residents ❤️ Overall, this weekend, we immunized 22 people, signed up 4 families for child and home lead screenings, and distributed 30 radon test kits to county residents. To find out more on St. Joseph County Department of Health programs and initiatives, head to in.gov/localhealth/st…

📢Residents of North Liberty and Walkerton 📢 We're partnering with numerous local organizations to bring quality care right to you. There will be fun activities for the kids, free children's books, and over 15 medical services/resources offered. We hope to see you on September 14!

Thank you, La Casa de Amistad and CareSource, for hosting an incredible back-to-school event! They handed out over 1,000 backpacks and thousands of school supplies to students. Our mobile immunization team provided 18 children with back-to-school immunizations, and our lead poisoning prevention team screened 4 children. To schedule your immunizations or lead testing for your children or home, head to in.gov/localhealth/st… scroll down and click Lead Poisoning Prevention and/or Back-to-School Immunizations.

Happy Community Health Worker Appreciation Day 2024!!! The CHW programs are designed to reduce health disparities and improve community well-being, primarily by engaging residents in discussions of health priorities, providing health education, and assisting them in accessing resources. We have 15 Community Health Workers ready and able to lend a helping hand; whether it's Maternal/Infant Health, Lead Poisoning Prevention, or addressing social needs, our CHWs can help you today! The St. Joseph County Department of Health Community Health Workers are your community help workers. To find a CHW near you, head to: in.gov/.../stjoseph..…

The Department's Mobile Nursing team stopped by Maxi's Food & Spirit Barn with @CallieCares, offering Tdap immunizations (tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis, a.k.a. whooping cough). Anyone who spends time around your baby or children should get their Tdap booster (every 10 years). Even our Communications Specialist got his booster today, as he spends quite a bit of time with his 9-month-old niece. To schedule your immunizations (we offer over 30), head to: in.gov/localhealth/st… For more information on tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis, head to: cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/v…

The St. Joseph County Department of Health's Environmental Unit joined local govt. agencies and community partners at the Mishawaka Res for their annual Environmental Days! For our portion of this fun outdoor learning experience, Environmental Health Specialist Josiah Hartman spoke with 4th-grade students about ticks and mosquitos, how to identify them, the dangers they can present, and how to avoid getting "all bugged down" this summer. To learn more about what you can do to limit pests & vectors (disease-carrying insects) in and around your home, head to: in.gov/.../environmen…

Some of our Community Health Workers and county residents took some time from their busy schedules to help shoot the first SJC DoH C.A.R.E. Unit Commercial! Here are some exclusive behind-the-scenes looks at some of the photo shoots (coming soon to a device near you)!

The St. Joseph County Department of Health advises that individuals who traveled to the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis on April 8, 2024, for the solar eclipse were possibly exposed to a person with measles. Head to our Facebook for more details. facebook.com/Stjosephcounty…

We joined CareSource along with 25 other organizations at the St. Joe County Public Library for Bumps and Babies. Our nurses provided TDaP immunizations, and our lead team screened children for lead and scheduled home tests. in.gov/localhealth/st…

It’s almost time! Looking directly at the Sun is unsafe, except during “totality” when the Moon completely blocks the Sun. Use safe eclipses glasses/viewers before and after totality to protect your eye health. Check totality details 👉 bit.ly/48NLbqW.