The cost of providing health services is going up, and the Pasco County Health Department plans to raise fees to compensate. ...more

May 10, 2008

Hillsborough County Health Department Director Doug Holt said he has noticed a rise in diagnoses of flu, with a variety of areas reporting cases. ...more

February 21, 2008

Mitchell Heights residents who have unanswered questions about pollution in their neighborhood will get a chance to grill local and state officials next week at an open house hosted by the Hernando County Health Department. ...more

February 17, 2008

This month, health-conscious Floridians are being encouraged to take advantage of the largest gymnasiums at their disposal - state parks and greenways. ...more

February 13, 2008

LAKE PLACID — Although the Tooth Fairy hasn't yet visited 6-year-old Ramon Castellano of Lake Placid, he was one of the first patients at the new Children's Dental Care of Highlands. The new 1,200-square-foot dental clinic where Ramon received care is located at the Lake Placid Health Department building, at 106 Main Ave. Any of the county's 15,000 children who are uninsured and Medicaid-eligible pay based on a sliding scale, which starts at no charge, said Dr. Paula Thaqi, director of the Highlands County Health Department. ...more

February 9, 2008

SEBRING — About 400 middle and high school students met regularly to plan activities on spreading the word about the dangers of tobacco and smoking. That was five years ago before a funding cut in 2003 severely curtailed, or at some schools ended the Students Working Against Tobacco (S.W.A.T.) program. With a federal grant to fund it, the Highlands County Health Department proposes to reinstitute the program in the county's high schools. Active S.W.A.T. membership in the county has dropped 70.8 percent since the year 2000, according Donna Noel Stayton, Health Department tobacco prevention specialist. About 28.1 percent of the high school students in Highlands County reported using tobacco within the last 30 days of taking the 2006 Florida Youth Tobacco Survey . ...more

January 22, 2008

Members of the James P. Gills Family YMCA were notified recently that someone who used the building's Youth Activity Center had contracted the potentially deadly MRSA, an antibiotic-resistant staph infection. ...more

December 7, 2007

Veterans who go to James A. Haley VA Medical Center for mental health care are unknowingly treated by psychologists who are inexperienced and not fully licensed, according to a complaint filed last week with a state board. ...more

December 5, 2007

University of South Florida health leaders today are mass vaccinating students against bacterial meningitis as the school prepares to enact the most stringent vaccination policy of any Florida public university. ...more

November 28, 2007

The Florida Department of Health and Safe Kids Florida have come up with a few ideas to keep everyone safe this Halloween. Here are some tips for parents and children: ...more

October 31, 2007