Health Department to Open STD Clinic in Manahawkin

The Ocean County Health Department is starting a new twice-monthly free clinic for those seeking treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, giving people in the underserved southern part of the county access to the same health resources those in northern Ocean already have.

The first clinic will be held at the Ocean County Health Department's Southern Clinic Site at 333 Haywood Road, Manahawkin, from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9, with client registration from 5 to 6 p.m. Subsequent clinics will be held during the same hours on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month.

“It is important for us to make sure (health department) services are accessible to all of our county residents," said Public Health Coordinator Daniel E. Regenye in a press release issued this week. "We found that a disproportionate number people living north of Lacey Township use our STD clinic, while less than 10 percent of our clients were from the southern part of the county.” 

The clinic will offer walk-in patients free counseling, testing and treatment for syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia. The clinics maintain strict patient confidentiality, the health department said.

The clinic is in the Stafford Park area just west of the Garden State Parkway. Turn right at the Olive Garden onto Haywood Road. Number 333 is located just past the Stafford Apartments on the left.

For more information, call the health department at 732-341-9700, ext. 7604.