 What makes for excellence in heart care? It starts with one of the most amazing teams of heart surgeons and cardiologists that I've seen assembled under one roof and the region's leading technology in a new 40 million dollar facility. This is the nationally recognized Heart and Vascular Institute of Eastern Kentucky at Pikeville Medical Center. Following a measles outbreak in Ohio, a case of measles has been confirmed in Kentucky. Due to decreasing vaccination rates, the measles, which had been eliminated for almost 20 years, has made a resurgence in the United States. We spoke to Public Health Director Tammy Riley on the importance of childhood vaccination. You know, I understand that families are making decisions about their family. You know, their immediate, their circle, their intimate circle at home. And I understand that as a mother, you know, I did the same thing for my children when they were growing up. But as Public Health Director, I'm looking at population health and how to protect the community as a whole. And you start thinking about community immunity or herd immunity. And that's a little trickier. And you want what's best for the whole. For herd immunity to be effective, 95 percent of the population must be vaccinated. In many communities across Kentucky, the vaccination rate is around 70 percent. When you have children getting together in a congregate setting like in school, it's easy to spread diseases. We all know that with like flu season and we saw it with COVID, what happens when children are not reaching that herd immunity, you know, vaccine rate, they spread it. But not only that, but they go home and they're spreading it to mom, dad, grandparents. And then, you know, serious diseases reach the immunocompromised and those those that are most at risk for a poor outcome. So having our vaccine rates to a safe level protects everyone. For more information on childhood vaccinations and to set up a vaccination schedule, go to Pike County Health Department on Facebook. Reporting for Mountain Top News, I'm Brianna Robinson.