St. Luke receives $4,000 grant from local group

By Nick Tabor, New Era Senior Staff Writer

St. Luke Free Clinic received a $4,000 grant this month from the Hopkinsville Junior Auxiliary.

It’s the clinic’s first grant in recent years, let alone since the announcement this summer that it must seek financial independence.

So far the board hasn’t identified other grants to apply for, Chairman Brandon Garnett said. But between a few fundraisers and the money from the grant, it’s in comfortable shape for the remainder of this fiscal year.

Changes outlined for mental disabilities programs

By Nick Tabor, New Era Senior Staff Writer

Compared to other states, Kentucky has a poor record of helping the mentally disabled find regular jobs and build stable romantic relationships. The University of Kentucky established this in a survey.

The state wants improvement. But it has people concerned that disabled members of their families will get pushed into jobs they’re not ready for or will be left with no options.

On Monday night, two representatives of the state came to speak at the Pennyroyal Mental Health Center. They wanted to allay the concerns of any locals whose relatives work at Trace Industries, a sheltered jobs program the Pennyroyal Center runs.

Integrated health plan proposed for schools

Health department says it could alleviate nurse shortage

By Nick Tabor, New Era Senior Staff Writer 

Donna Crick no longer needs to worry about the school nurse being absent from Crofton Elementary, where her insulin-dependent daughter attends.

The school no longer shares a nurse with Lacy Elementary School — because Lacy now has a diabetic student as well.  

The Christian County Health Department's initial plan for saving on payroll costs hasn't worked out. So in the midst of serious budget shortfalls, the department is now considering an alternate model, called Coordinated School Health, that would depend more heavily on educators.

"There is so much more that should be done in the schools with school health other than nursing," Health Department Director Mark Pyle wrote in an email. "As a community we will need to figure out how to use all tax dollars (school system, health department, others) to efficiently offer a coordinated school health program."