Panhandle Health District bringing value to Shoshone County

WALLACE — The Shoshone Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) met with recently appointed District Director of Panhandle Health, Don Duffy on Tuesday morning at Shoshone County Courthouse.

Duffy worked for the Panhandle Health District (PHD) as the Division Administrator prior to taking the position of District Director after former director Lora Whalen retired.

“We are thrilled to have him,” said BOCC Chairman Mike Fitzgerald, who is also a Board Member of PHD. “We want to have professionals here in our community.”

This was the first meeting between Duffy and the BOCC, so it was the perfect time for Duffy to give them a rundown of some of PHD’s actions in Shoshone County over the past couple of years.

Duffy explained that PHD serviced 1,861 Shoshone County residents in the year 2020. These services come from child immunizations, clinical services, the Institutional Controls Program, food safety and home health visits.

These services not only assist residents who live in the more populated areas of Shoshone County, but also provide assistance for those who live in the more remote sections of the county.

PHD is currently in charge of the Institutional Controls Program (ICP), a locally enforced set of rules and regulations that ensure the integrity of clean soil, and other protective barriers that are placed over the contaminants left over from the Bunker Hill Superfund site.

PHD will continue to work closely with the Department of Environmental Quality to ensure the health and safety of the residents of Shoshone County.

The service that will most likely grow the most within PHD is treating Opioid Use Disorder (OUD). Idaho is currently set to receive $119 million in a national opioid settlement from various major pharmaceutical companies. All 68 counties and several larger cities throughout Idaho have agreed to join the settlement to fight the opioid epidemic in Idaho. The PHD will be working on prevention, harm reduction and actual treatment for Idaho residents who struggle with opioid use.

Currently Shoshone County also benefits from a Health Resources and Service Administration grant that is used to support those who are in the thralls of opioid addiction. This is a joint effort with HRSA and PHD to provide these services.

Two offices were recently opened, one in Kellogg and the other in Sandpoint, both of which will help in the fight against OUD.

“It’s sad that we have to have this program, but I'm glad that we do,” Commissioner Jay Huber stated to the group.

While Duffy touched on many topics, he was clear that he was merely scratching the surface on most of them.

Duffy and BOCC will meet again in March to discuss the voting in of a new board member of PHD after the unexpected passing of Allen Banks, as well as discuss the plans for the health of the county moving forward.

The Shoshone News-Press will be looking into many of these topics in the future to provide more in depth coverage for readers.