The City of St. Joseph Health Department offices and services located at 904 South 10th Street will be closed on Monday.

This closure will not affect Animal Control and Rescue staff and facility or other services located within Patee Market Health Center, which are operated by the Social Welfare Board.

According to a press release, the City of St. Joseph Health Department staff will be participating in a full-scale Point of Dispensing Exercise being conducted by the Caldwell County Health Department. This is an opportunity for health department staff to gain valuable public health response experience and work collaboratively with outside agencies toward a common objective. Public health and other emergency management personnel use such exercises for training purposes. 

A Point of Dispensing, or “POD” site, would provide medications, vaccines, or medical supplies to a large community of healthy people during a health emergency. POD sites would be activated prior to the onset of illness in order to decrease illness and prevent death. POD sites have been established for St. Joseph’s Emergency Plan. They are in locations that are both familiar and easily accessible to the community (schools, community centers, churches, etc.) and are designed to serve as a place for the public to come and receive medications, vaccines and medical supplies. The ultimate goal of a POD is to provide these items to large numbers of people in a short window of time.

The City of St. Joseph Health Department will resume services at 8:00 a.m. Tuesday, March 13th.