City News & Updates

From left to right: Ashlyn and Chad Kippert from the Indiana Family Care Center, Brian Trueblood and Dr. Matt Pflieger of the Huntington County Health Department, and School Health Liasion Kayla Whitacre.


Huntington County is intervening to reduce emergency room visits and hospitalizations for children with asthma.

The Huntington County Health Department has started distributing allergen-reducing mattress and pillow covers. The department is working with Huntington County’s school health liaison and Huntington’s Indiana Family Care Center to assist Huntington County families who have children diagnosed with asthma.

Public Health Officer Dr. Matt Pflieger said that Huntington County is an “outlier” when it comes to asthma-related ER visits among children. That’s according to Indiana Department of Health data tracking such incidences and hospitalizations.

The covers, available to eligible families for free, are fitted to mattresses and pillows to effectively seal in allergens that can trigger an asthma attack.

“What we’re doing is identifying kids in schools who are on inhalers and then reaching out to their family members and saying, ‘Would you be interested in mattress covers for your child?’” Pflieger said.

The Health Department funded 50 cover sets to start, with plans to purchase more as needed. The funds come from money received this year through the state health department’s Health First Indiana initiative.

Pflieger added that the local health department will track ER visits and hospitalizations before and after delivering the covers to measure their impact.

Indiana Family Care Center | Huntington County Community Schools