Members of the Forrest County Board of Supervisors are looking forward to enhancing the services at the Forrest County Health Department on Old Highway 42 in Hattiesburg, with the help of funds from the American Rescue Plan Act.
The improvements include, but will not be limited to, a drive-through vaccination center, additional exam rooms, extra space and more advanced technology.
“The Forrest County Health Department serves some of the most underserved people in our community, as far as when it comes to health care,” said David Hogan, president of the Forrest County Board of Supervisors. “So (the board) is partnering with the state … to make renovations and enhancements to our health department.
“We’re renovating the existing facility, adding a new facility on the front of the building, and a vaccination center in the rear of the building. (There also will be) additional parking."
The Forrest County Health Department, which is located at 5008 Old Highway 42, offers services such as pregnancy testing, immunizations for children, STD testing, birth control and the treatment of certain ailments. The improvement project is expected to cost approximately $2 million: $1 million from the Mississippi Department of Health and $1 million from Forrest County’s ARPA funds.
“I think it’ll be a great benefit to the community,” Hogan said. “As I said, the Forrest County Health Department serves some of the most underserved people of our community, and to have a new facility to better serve those people will be a great enhancement.
“It will benefit the health of our entire community.”
The renderings for the improvements will soon come before the board of supervisors. If those are approved as expected, the bidding process will begin shortly after that.
“I would look for the facility to be done within approximately the next calendar year,” Hogan said.
For more information on the Forrest County Health Department, or to make an appointment at the facility, call (601) 583-0291. The department is open from 8 a.m-5 p.m. Monday through Friday; appointments are required on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
The American Rescue Plan Act is a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill issued by the federal government to speed up the United States’ recovery from the economic damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Those measures include public health expenditures, addressing negative economic impacts caused by the public health emergency, serving the hardest-hit communities and families, replacing lost public sector revenue, providing premium pay for essential workers, and investing in water, sewer and broadband infrastructure.
Broken down even further, those measures entail:
- Supporting public health expenditures: Recipients may use this funding to address a broad range of public health needs across COVID-19 mitigation, medical expenses, behavioral healthcare and public health resources.
- Addressing the negative economic impact caused by COVID: This can provide a range of assistance to individuals and households, small businesses and industries. This can also enable governments to rebuild staff capacity.
- Serving the hardest-hit families: This is aimed at social guidelines to help with health, housing and educational disparities, as well as promoting early childhood education and healthy childhood environments.
- Replacing lost public service revenue: This is aimed at the months that were hardest-hit, economic-wise, by the pandemic.
- Providing premium pay for essential workers: Recipients may use this funding to provide pay directly to a broad range of essential workers who must be physically present at their jobs, including staff at nursing homes, hospitals and home-care settings.
- Investing in water, sewer and broadband infrastructure: Recipients may use this funding to invest in wastewater, infrastructure, and projects including construction of publicly-owned stormwater treatment infrastructure.
