Clinical and Nutritional Services

The Florida Department of Health in Franklin County’s (DOH-Franklin) Clinical Health Services program protects the health and well-being of Franklin County residents.  This is accomplished with community health initiatives and a variety of clinical health services

Family Planning 

Florida's family planning and related preventive health services are available to both males and females, including teens.

For more information, visit the Family Planning home page.

Pregnancy Testing 

Pregnancy testing and counseling are provided at the Health Department.  If you are pregnant or planning to become pregnant there are steps you can take for a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby. The healthier you are, the better chance you have of your baby being born healthy.

For more information, visit the Pregnancy home page.

Prenatal Services 

The health department can connect you to the services that can keep you in prenatal care while you’re pregnant. 

If you’re at a low income and eligible, Presumptive Eligibility for Pregnant Women (PEPW) will be your first step toward prenatal coverage. PEPW is temporary coverage that can keep you healthy early in your pregnancy before Medicaid kicks in.

For more information, visit the Prenatal Services home page.

Breast and Cervical Screenings  

The Florida Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program makes it easy to get the breast and cervical cancer screenings doctors recommend. The screenings are free or low cost if you meet program eligibility requirements. There are many BCCEDP sites located throughout Florida.

For more information, visit the Breast and Cervical Screenings home page.

Immunizations 

The Florida Department of Health in Gulf County (DOH-Gulf) has placed great emphasis on increasing accessibility and availability of immunizations for children and adults.  All child and adolescent immunizations in accordance with the Bureau of Immunizations Schedule and the Florida School Guidelines are available to eligible children ages zero to 18.

Why are Childhood Vaccines So Important?

Newborn babies are immune to many diseases because they have antibodies they got from their mothers. However, this immunity goes away during the first year of life. Also, young children do not have this "maternal immunity" against some diseases, such as whooping cough.

If an unvaccinated child is exposed to a disease germ, the child's body may not be strong enough to fight the disease. Before vaccines, many children died from diseases that vaccines now prevent, such as whooping cough, measles, and polio. Those same germs exist today, but because babies are now protected by vaccines, we do not see these diseases nearly as often. 

Immunizing individual children also helps to protect the health of our community, especially those people who cannot be immunized. These include children who are too young to be vaccinated (for example, children less than a year old cannot receive the measles vaccine but can be infected by the measles virus), those who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons (for example, children with leukemia), and those who cannot make an adequate response to vaccination. 

For more information, visit the Immunization FAQ page.

STD Testing and Treatment 

The Florida Department of Health provides screening, counseling, treatment and partner notification services to persons infected with or suspected of being infected with STDs.

For more information, visit STD Services.

HIV/AIDS Services 

The Florida Department of Health has identified reducing transmission of HIV as one of its seven priority goals. 

To achieve this goal, Florida has adopted a comprehensive strategic approach to prevent HIV transmission and strengthen patient care activities which will greatly reduce the risk of further transmission of HIV from those diagnosed and living with HIV.

For more information, visit HIV/AIDS.

PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis) is a comprehensive HIV prevention strategy. Visit PrEP/nPEP for more information and to locate PrEP and nPEP providers in Florida.