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WIC program sees changes in coming months
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Posted on Aug 06 2008
The Women, Infants and Children program will be undergoing changes in the next few months as staff try to enhance the organization’s services, Josephina Tudela, the program administrator said.
Tudela said she hopes the two renovated buildings on Navy Hill that will house the new clinic will be ready to move into in September. The clinic is currently located in the Commonwealth Health Center.
The new clinic will help WIC reach its maximum caseload of 4,500.
“We’re still trying to get there,” Tudela said.
WIC currently has more than 3,000 clients, up from the 1,400 the organization had at the end of November 2007, she added.
But the clinic needs reliable power, something that has not been regularly available on Navy Hill, where the WIC administration building is located, Tudela said.
She said the Department of Public Works is examining alternative sources of power, such as windmills.
WIC is also looking to fill two positions, a registered dietician and a nutritionist, that have remained open since the organization’s inception in August 2007, Tudela said. There is currently one registered dietician on staff.
“Those are classified as hard to fill positions,” Tudela added.
Although Tudela told The Saipan Tribune last year she had hoped to offer WIC’s services to Rota and Tinian by October of this year, it will not be possible, she said. Tinian currently has access to WIC, but Rota will not have access to the services until November.
WIC staff members are currently training for the implementation of a new software system, Arizona in Motion, which will expedite the organization’s record keeping.
