Kylie Koontz/MDN Environmental health practitioners Hallie Wendell, left, and Hailey Hanna represent food safety and environmental health at the First District Health open house Monday.

To showcase all it offers to the Minot community and area, First District Health Unit in Minot hosted an open house on Monday.

“We like to let the public know what we are doing and all of the things we offer,” said Executive Director Holly Brekhus. “A lot of people think of COVID when they hear about public health. We offer so many more programs and services than just COVID-related services.”

April 1 marked the start of National Public Health Week. The American Public Health Association will be holding events all over the nation this week as public health officials promote the services they offer their communities.

First District Health Unit offers 14 programs including emergency preparedness and response, school health, family planning and sexually transmitted diseases, general nursing, injury prevention and others.

Also offered at First District Health Unit is the Environmental Health Division, which provides training, information and/or guidance to the general public regarding a variety of topics including: food safety, rabies and hazardous waste. The division also regulates and provides enforcement and inspection of a number of food and beverage establishments as well as public places like parks, campgrounds and swimming pools.

“We try to be good community partners as well so we have job services here, community medical services and other organizations,” said Brekhus. “We are able to refer to each other if community members can’t find a program or service that works for them. It is also nice for us to know what they do and for them to know what we offer as well.”

Contact First District Health Unit for a full list of programs and services.

Blood drive

First District Health Unit in Minot will be hosting a blood drive that is open to the public today from 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m. The health unit is located at 801 11th Ave. SW.