Health of the county

 

On November 13, the Goochland Health Department, which is located on the lower level of the county administration building, held an open house to showcase the range of services it offers to residents. Dr. Tom Franck, District Director of the Chickahominy Health District, (https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/chickahominy)which includes Goochland, gave a brief overview of the functions of the department to the supervisors at their November 6 meeting.

The mission of CHD, said Franck, is to improve the health of a community by preventing disease, promoting healthy lifestyles, and protecting people from environmental and other health hazards.

Funding for the CHD comes from a variety of sources--42 percent of the department’s budget comes from the state, Goochland matches some state money, locally generated fees, and about 13 percent comes from federal grants.

Training in the proper use of naloxone to reverse opioid overdose

CHD oversees many programs. Environmental health includes inspection of restaurants, and swimming pools. It approves septic systems and private wells. Acting as a safety net provider, CHD offers clinical services like immunizations. It is one of only four health districts in Virginia that does maternity care on a sliding fee scale and has a staff maternity care clinician and offers family planning services.

How to safely install a child car seat

Rabies control is an important part of CHD. Every animal bite that animal protection gets word of is investigated to determine if rabies is involved and determine what action is appropriate to deal with the situation.

Tracking potential rabies outbreaks is an important part of public health.

CHD is getting more involved with improving community health and is unique in the Commonwealth for having a community health response and improvement team, which works with the community to develop assessments and improvement plans. The latest for Goochland was adopted in August 2025. Go to chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/content/uploads/sites/84/2025-2029-Goochland-CHIP-Report.pdf for details. (This was hard to find on the CHD website. During the meeting, a QR code, which allegedly links to the report, was flashed on the screen, but many people, GOMM, included, do not “do” QR codes. A lot of work was put into this report, it should be more accessible.)

Priorities outlined in assessment include increasing support services for senior citizens, the largest age cohort in Goochland; improving access to healthcare; home repairs; transportation; attainable and safe housing; and mental health providers and services. Relationships with other local agencies including the Community Services Board (https://gpcsb.org/), GoochlandCares, and Habitat for Humanity help.

Franck said that studies to find a way to bring transportation for things like medical appointments to rural areas are underway. He hoped the CHD and Goochland would be able to provide real world input as to where the need is greatest rather than using demographic statistics, which can place services where they are needed least.

The open house had stations for each of the services offered by the CHD. These included training on the proper use of naloxone, a medicine that rapidly reverses and opioid overdose; proper installation of child car seats; services for new mothers including breast feeding assistance, nutrition education and eWIC cards for postpartum and children for their first five years.

A wide range of  services helps new mothers

The county’s citizen emergency response team (CERT) was also represented. A national emergency preparedness program, CERT, a free 22-hour program offered to those 16 years of age and up, provides basic training in emergency response skills. These include disaster preparedness; fire suppression and safety; disaster medical operations; light search and rescue; tea organization; and disaster psychology so that people can care for themselves and their neighbors until help arrives in the event of widespread disasters than can overwhelm first responders. Go to https://goochlandfire-rescue.org/emergency-management/community-emergency-response-team-cert/ for more information.

Tools and CERT manuals

The Goochland Health Department and CHD help Goochland thrive. For complete information visit https://www.goochlandva.us/355/Health-Department .