ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
The summer is winding down, meaning back-to-school time will soon be upon the area.
In addition to new backpacks and other school supplies, children throughout USD 480 will also need to make sure they are up to date with their vaccinations, according to Seward County Health Department Clinic Nurse Supervisor Lesha Morlen.
“With back-to-school time coming up, I would say definitely come during our immunization clinic, it'll be a walk-in clinic, and that'll take place from Aug. 5 through 9 during our regular hours at the Seward County Health Department,” Morlen said. “If it's been a while since they've been notified by the school about needing these immunizations, the children might not be able to attend classes until they get their immunizations done, so it's important for parents to get that done before school starts up. Everything's the same for this year as it has been in the past, there's not really anything new as far as required vaccinations.”
Morlen also offered encouragement for families to take part in the immunization clinic.
“I would encourage parents to come in with their children so they're not prevented from attending class when school starts up for this year,” Morlen said. “It's also good peace of mind for the parents so they officially know their kids are up to date with their needed shots, and that physical record is there for them to look at. It's also great to get all that stuff done during the summer because there aren't as many commitments to think about, the kids won't be missing out on anything if they come in during the day, so come in and get all that knocked out before school starts. The clinics are great because they can just walk in here and don't have to worry about setting up a separate appointment with their primary physician somewhere else, and they can walk out all ready to go. If you're not able to come to the clinic, make an appointment and come in as soon as possible. We are booked out several months in advance, so you might not get in as quickly as you need to, so call as soon as you can if circumstances prevent you from making it to our clinic that week.”
Morlen said she and the rest of the staff are playing things rather by eye as far as expectations for the clinic this time around.
“It's honestly hard to say what our expectations are for something like this because it varies from year to year. We already had one clinic earlier this month, which didn't see as many people as we expected, but we did still see quite a few patients,” Morlen said. “I do expect us to maybe see more this time around, because I think parents are more used to these clinics taking place in August, so I'm hoping we see higher turnout. With the times we'll have these walk-in clinics available, it should give families plenty of time to come in and get done what they need to. But again, if it happens you CAN'T come in during one of those walk-in clinic days, give us a call at the health department and we'll get that appointment set up. I expect we'll be especially busy those first couple days of the clinic and have things taper off as the week goes on, but again, we have no way of truly predicting what we'll see. It's definitely better to get this done sooner rather than later because if it gets to a certain point too close to the school year, we might not be able to get you in. I know the school district also has guidelines to follow, so it's good to go ahead and get them in order to avoid any delays in enrollment and all of that.”
Morlen also talked about the requirements for families to take part in the clinic, and added she hopes to see lots of students coming in and getting immunized in the coming weeks.
“Those coming to the clinic must bring their insurance card, an ID of some sort, a birth certificate, and their immunization record, because sometimes, the immunizations are not on their record, but a patient did in fact receive it, so if we're reading their record, we might pull it up from the state registry and ultimately give someone a shot or multiple shots they don't actually need,” Morlen said. “The clinic is for everyone 2 months old and up, it's open to everyone. Be sure and bring all the necessary paperwork with you, especially the birth certificate, because if you don't have that and we've never seen you in the clinic, you'll be turned away.”
