By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON — The supply chain issues that have rippled across the economy have hit some of Kansas smallest residents, as well, as certain types of baby formula have been hard to come by.
"We are hearing from several families that they are not able to find certain kinds of formula on the shelf," said Heather Peterson, Reno and McPherson County WIC Coordinator. "One of the things that WIC has the capability to do then, is just to change the baby's formula. A lot of times, we make changes in their formula when babies are first born and their tummies are just a little bit more tender. Then, as they get just a little bit older, we can try them back on another formula and they do just fine on it."
There are some babies that have digestive issues that require special formula. WIC does its best to help in those situations, too.
"Fortunately, WIC has the opportunity to tailor food packages with like a hundred different formulas," Peterson said. "While not every formula is appropriate for every single baby, we do have the opportunity to maybe switch to a different formula that would be really similar to the type that the baby is on right now. Another option that we've done, is we've got the capability to, if right now, they are buying it in the powder form, which is the least expensive way, but it is available in the liquid form, we would be able to make that substitution, for this short term. If the pharmacy is able to get that special formula in a different form, then we would be able to make that switch as well, right now."
Now that WIC is not doing physical checks, it makes those adjustments easier to make.
"We can actually do the vast majority of things over the phone," Peterson said. "If they've picked up all of their benefits for formula for this month, we could retailor future months of benefits. If they still have some cans of formula on their account that they haven't been able to use, then we can actually tailor that remotely and just change it on their account and they can go to the store and get a new type of formula."
The WIC has offices in most communities and office hours vary. Call them at (785) 826-6603 in Salina, (785) 776-4779 ext. 7661 in Manhattan, (785) 762-5682 in Junction City, (620) 793-1909 in Great Bend and (785) 628-9440 in Hays.