North Idaho – Preventing disease, promoting healthy lifestyles, and protecting the environment are at the heart of what Panhandle Health District (PHD) provides the community. Over 40 different public health programs at PHD are available to families, individuals and organizations. From food and drinking water safety to health education and disease control, public health services are designed to ensure our community is a safe and healthy place to live, work and thrive.
“We offer so many services and we want the community to know about all of them,” said Lora Whalen, PHD Director. “Everything we do here is structured to serve our residents and meet their needs.”
Those services are provided by a team that includes nurses, nutritionists, environmental health specialists, health educators and many other dedicated professionals with a common goal: deliver vital public health services to keep every member of our community well. PHD has locations in Kootenai, Bonner, Boundary, Benewah, and Shoshone counties.
PHD’s environmental health department focuses on child care resources, food inspections, septic permits, lead health, and water protection to name a few of their programs. Under the clinical and health services department, the district offers healthcare services with experienced nurse practitioners, a home health program, nurse-family partnership for first time parents, and parents as teachers. Many clinical services are based on a sliding fee scale based off a client’s income.
Beyond this, PHD offers many free community programs including tobacco cessation, Fit & Fall proof exercise classes, opioid misuse prevention, senior companions, teen pregnancy prevention, and suicide prevention.
“The health district continues to expand and evolve as our community changes,” said Whalen. “We just launched a new exercise and nutrition program for families titled Parents Leading Active Youth or PLAY. It’s part of our Nutrition Services department which operates the WIC program and our diabetes prevention and management programs.”
The health district focuses on prevention. Preventing illness, disease, and degradation of our environment. By working together as a community we can continue to live, work, and thrive.
