At its meeting last week, the Oneida County public health board unanimously approved a merger of the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) programs in Oneida and Vilas counties. Oneida County public health director Linda Conlon said a merger of this type is nothing new. Vilas County officials, citing staffing issues in the county health department, had approached her with the merger proposal as Vilas County public health director Tami Boers and the department’s assistant director, Stephanie Van Natta, are both leaving their positions with the county. Conlon said she and her staff believe a merger “would actually benefit Vilas County residents” by increasing access to WIC appointments and services, because there would be a full-time WIC clerk available. She also said moving forward with the merger won’t negatively affect the integrity of the Oneida County WIC program.