February 14, 2008

The Houston Department of Health and Human Services (HDHHS) has opened Sharpstown Health Services, 6201 Bonhomme Road, in the city’s southwest.

Opening the 17,000-square-foot facility allows HDHHS to add a new site to its network of Women, Infants and Children (WIC) clinics and relocate its sexually-transmitted disease (STD) clinic to an area with increasing demand for both services. HDHHS will begin offering comprehensive dental health services at the site in March.

STD clinic services include HIV testing and counseling and exams, treatment and follow-up for syphilis, gonorrhea, Chlamydia, genital herpes, chancroid and LGV. Sixteen public health professionals at the clinic consist of a physician, nurses, disease intervention specialists, clinical assistants and clerks.

WIC provides nutrition education and vouchers for nutritious foods to pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, women who have given birth in the last six months and children up to age five who have nutrition health-related problems. WIC staff total nine and include nutritionists, counselors, eligibility screeners and Spanish and Vietnamese speaking staff.

Typically, WIC provides prenatal and breastfeeding support for mothers, formula for infants who are not breastfeeding and supplemental foods such as cereal, eggs, milk, juice, peanut butter and cheese for women and children. Also, each participating infant or child and their siblings receive immunizations at no cost. Single fathers, grandparents and foster parents may also be eligible for WIC services for their children.

WIC clinic business hours are 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. on Mondays, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month. STD clinic hours are 7 a.m. - 4 p.m. weekdays and 7 a.m. - 12 p.m. on the second and four Wednesdays of the month.

Dental services will include exams, cleanings, fluoride treatment, oral hygiene instruction, sealants, fillings, stainless-steel crowns, pulpotomies and extractions for children enrolled in CHIP and Medicaid.

For more information, call the STD clinic at 713-780-5600 or the WIC clinic at 713-780-5650.