MCHD dietitians to offer nutritional counseling to community members

Jul. 17, 2024

MCHD dietitians to offer nutritional counseling to community members

MORGANTOWN, WV — Have you considered going on a diet but didn’t know how to do it in a healthy way? Are GI issues making it difficult to find foods you like that you can digest easily? Is your diabetes keeping you stuck in a cycle of limited eating choices?
Monongalia County Health Department is introducing a service that can help. Two of MCHD’s registered dietitians will soon offer nutritional counseling that anyone can take advantage of.
“When looking at health departments in the state, typically there is not a nutrition component offered,” said Cami Haught, who, along with Jason Nguyen, will be utilizing their extensive backgrounds as dietitians to help area residents make changes.
Private insurance or Medicaid can be billed for the counseling. Individuals need a referral from a physician.
“Nutrition plays a central role in everybody’s health, and to be able to offer services to the local community would be a great benefit,” Haught added.
Counseling sessions will begin in August and can be booked by calling 304-598-5181.
Haught is the manager of MCHD WIC program, which oversees the federal nutrition program’s office in Monongalia, Preston, Marion, Harrison, Doddridge and Taylor counties, but the counseling is provided by Monongalia County Health Department.
A comprehensive — but not necessarily complete — list of conditions that Haught and Nguyen can address through nutritional counseling include kidney and/or cardiovascular disease, chewing and swallowing difficulties, cancer, food allergies and sensory issues, in addition to the ones previously listed.
“Some of the children we see in the WIC clinic are on the autism spectrum, and they can be very sensitive to certain textures,” Haught said. “They might only want to eat mushy food, or crunchy food. We can help with a meal plan that is balanced around what they would eat.”
Those sensitivities can last into adulthood. “I treated one man who would eat only orange-colored foods,” Haught added.
Although the treatment is not associated with WIC and is not part of the WIC package that is only available to individuals and families who qualify for the program, the go-ahead for the counseling was sanctioned by state WIC director Heidi Staats.
“They have been wanting us to branch out and offer additional services,” Haught said.
Added Nguyen, “She’s definitely been supportive and more encouraging us to look at other revenue streams. We envision this to be a service that could be offered to more than our six-county region. If we went virtual, then we would be able to serve more of West Virginia.”
Staats suggested the idea, and met with MCHD executive director Anthony DeFelice and chief financial officer Devan Smith and “hashed out policy and procedure development,” she said.
“Your health department has the infrastructure to support it,” Staats added. “We have committed as a state agency to basically support the effort at the local level.”
Both Haught and Nguyen have extensive backgrounds as dietitian nutritionists that have provided them well-rounded experiences.
Haught started out as a clinical nutritionist at WVU Hospitals, where she spent 14 years treating a wide range of patients.
“I started off in cardiology working with people who had bypass or open heart surgery, on their diets.”
She worked in pediatrics and at Chestnut Ridge Center, where she saw psychiatric patients. Haught also is skilled in prescribing tube feedings.
“I also worked in the hospital kitchen as an informatics dietitian,” she said. “I maintained the computer program that patients would use to order their meals, and I trained staff on using that system.”
Before she became program director of MCHD WIC in 2020, Haught also spent seven years at WVU as the campus dietitian.
“We provided free nutritional counseling to all WVU students,” she said. “I saw a lot of things. Weight management issues, eating disorders and food allergies were the big three. I helped with menu planning for the cafeterias and I would do a lot of wellness events.”
Nguyen has 18 years of experience as a nutritional dietitian. He has both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in human nutrition and foods as well as a 1,200-hour-plus dietetic internship with a community focus.
Nyugen uses gentle care and positivity to encourage others to succeed with living healthy lifestyles, he noted. His treatment spans the life cycle, from children to adults, pregnancy and geriatric care.”
“Throughout my career, I’ve worked with children and adults with various nutrition-related illnesses and diseases, eating and swallowing disorders, wound care, weight and diabetes management, among other conditions,” he said.