UPDATE: New WIC Office in Smyrna Opens - One of Most Heavily Used Last Year!

Jun 19, 2013 at 06:00 pm by bryan


UPDATE: Tennessee Health Commissioner John Dreyzehner, MD, MPH, Wednesday joined other state and local officials for the grand opening celebration for the newly expanded Women, Infants and Children Special Supplemental Nutrition Program, or WIC, clinic at the North Rutherford County Health Department. Renovations at the facility are designed to improve delivery of services to WIC clients.

“WIC is a primary prevention gateway where mothers and children can access a bundle of key resources including nutrition education and food security to protect their health,” said Dreyzehner. “We are pleased the improvements at the North Rutherford County Health Department clinic will allow us to better serve our WIC clients with vital health services that protect health in this community.”

The Rutherford County WIC clinic provided more than 24,000 client encounters in the past year, with more than 9,600 of those occurring at the Smyrna facility. These encounters have resulted in more than $4 million in WIC vouchers being redeemed in Rutherford County during that time.

The Rutherford County Health Department received a nearly $700,000 grant from the United States Department of Agriculture to assist with renovations at the clinic. Improvements have included adding a 3,500 square foot WIC Health Center at the facility in Smyrna, which includes two community education classrooms, a demonstration kitchen and two new exam rooms.

What is the WIC Program (In Detail): 

The WIC Special Supplemental Nutrition Program is a federal program designed to provide supplemental food to low-income pregnant, postpartum and breastfeeding women, infants and children until the age of five. The program provides nutrition education, supplemental foods, breastfeeding promotion and support and referrals for health care. WIC in Tennessee is administered by the Department of Health. Learn more about the program online at http://health.state.tn.us/wic/index.htm.

Source

Misty Claude, Shelly Walker, TN Dept. of Health

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