Health board decides to expand diaper program

By Kathryn Rice | June 29, 2026 |

FORUM FILE PHOTO
Nodaway County Health Department building

MARYVILLE, Mo. — At the June 17 Nodaway County Health Center Board of Trustees meeting, the board voted to expand the Happy Bottoms diaper program.

The health center had signed up for 50 participants and in the second month of the program had filled all slots and developed a waiting list. The board approved up to 50 more slots with the health center increasing the allotment as needed so the center won’t be inundated with excess diapers.

Each participant is eligible for 75 diapers or 50 pullups per month. Administrator Tom Patterson said the program took two hours a month to pick up the diapers and three to five hours a month to distribute. Some of this is covered under a contract. Currently to qualify for Happy Bottoms, recipients must be signed up for WIC. Patterson will work on the procedure to qualify non-WIC recipients.

Other notes

The health center has a children’s gardening class on Tuesdays. For more information, contact the health center.
A discussion was held on adding additional water testing kits. These kits are for well water only.
Patterson provided a letter of support to the Tri-County Health Department for an alpha-gal grant with several local health departments. The grant will support monitoring, education and prevention efforts for alpha-gal syndrome. Legislation has been sent to Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe to add alpha-gal syndrome to the reportable disease list. This list currently has over 100 reportable diseases. The CDC states “Alpha-gal syndrome (AGS) is a serious, potentially life-threatening allergic reaction to alpha-gal — a sugar molecule found in most mammals. Primarily triggered by the bite of the Lone Star tick, the condition causes your immune system to overreact to red meats and dairy.”
Patterson is assessing what organizations would want “Stop the Bleed” kits and will have the information to the board in the next month or two.
Patterson reported the PHEP contract for July 1, 2026, to June 30, 2027, with the same funding of $20,255. The CORE contract also renews July 1 with the same funding of $75,512.
Patterson attended the proposed data center open house and was asked by the Nodaway County Commissioners to research the public health risks.
He also provided a letter of support to Mosaic Maryville Center for its application for ToRCH hub facilitating entity. ToRCH is Missouri’s Rural Health Transformation Program grant.
The new generator successfully ran for a half hour during an overnight power outage earlier this month.
Three bids were received for the tear-out and replacement of concrete in the parking lot. Bryson Allen, Hopkins, bid $19,200; Ideal Concrete Construction, Maryville, $17,252; and American Pavement Solutions, Green Bay, Wisconsin, $52,600. The board voted to leave the selection to the discretion of Patterson and allocated up to $19,200 for the project. Patterson checked specifics of the two cheaper bids and informed The Forum that the Ideal Concrete bid was accepted.
In Tabitha Frank’s report there were three COVID cases and one Influenza B case reported in May.