Commissioners Approve FNP And Health Officer

The Valley County Commissioners met for their regular meeting on May 17 in the Board of County Commissioners, located inside the Valley County Courthouse. The meeting’s agenda included signing the Provider of Record Agreement, signing the agreement to provide planning medical services and the signing of the Health Officer Agreement.

During the meeting, the Commissioners approved the Provider of Record Agreement between Michelle Ozark, Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) and the Valley County Health Department as well as approved the agreement for Ozark to provide family planning medical services within the Valley County Health Department. According to Valley County Health Department Director Lynn Miller, Ozark will be the official provider of record for the Health Department starting on July 1. The Commissioners also signed the Health Officer Agreement between Shirley Baumgartner, Rph (registered pharmacist) and Valley County. Baumgarter has been serving in the role of Valley County Health Officer since 2021.

Prior to the approved upon agreement with Ozark, FNP Christy Scoggins, of Malta, Mont., was contracted with the Valley County Health Department, and therefore also the county, to provide services to the public through the Health Department in accordance to Title X (ten) funding. The Health Department receives this federal funding in order to provide family planning and well women exams to the county.

“There are two main roles for the FNP at the Health Department,” explained Valley County Health Director Lynn Miller. “The first role is for immunizations. We have standing orders for immunizations, and we can’t bill insurances for them unless we have a provider sign off on them. So the FNP authorizes all of that. The second role is family planning. There are eight in-person clinics a year. Our number one mission is to promote responsibility, prevent sexual transmitted diseases and unplanned pregnancies.”

Miller also explained that all services are confidential and as a department they do their best to make it so that the person needing the services only talks to a single person during the process instead of multiple people. The Health Department also welcomes teens and young adults. “The number one conversation we have with them is twofold: watching, educating and talking about coercive relationships as well as talking with them because no matter what, we want them to have an adult support person. It can be an older sister, an older cousin or somebody else’s mom....if they really can’t think of anybody, then I tell them, I want you to call here, call me, talk to me,” stressed Miller.

The government funding that is provided through Title X, the Health Department is also able to educate and provide options if a pregnancy test is positive, including a referral to obstetrician-gynecologist (OB-GYN) and resources of places to call for a variety of different options.

Within family planning at the Health Department, services also include emergency contraception, testing, including HIV screening, STD screening/treatment and pregnancy testing, birth control, period management, and reproductive education and counseling. Another benefit of the federal funding is that everyone is welcome and no one is denied services. There is a siding fee scale available for low cost or no cost services and all major medical insurances are accepted.

The Health Department was just recently awarded funds to be able to purchase rapid syphilis tests which will be another service offered within Family Planning. “As soon as we get them, we have to do a little training and then we’ll be ready to offer syphilis tests. We’re so excited about that because we already offer HIV testing. So when we do HIV, we can talk people into doing syphilis testing as well,” explained Miller.

Miller stated prior to Ozark setting up the eight clinic dates, she will be traveling to Bridger Care, in Bozeman, to spend a few clinic days there to get further hands-on experience with women health. “We’re really excited. We have been so lucky because other clinics have been without an on-site provider so they can’t do women exams,” said Miller.

Valley County Family Planning can be called or text at 406-263-6261. The Health Department is located at 500 4th Ave. S., Glasgow and are open Monday through Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.