UnitedHealthcare to Offer Seniors Hispanic-Centered Medicare Education Seminars
The Latino Journal, Vol. 3, Issue 9
MONTEREY, Calif. -- Next month, UnitedHealthcare will offer two free Medicare education seminars aimed at helping Hispanic-American seniors understand the basics of Medicare. Following the seminar, seniors are encouraged to take a free Zumba® Gold class, a Latin-infused fitness program that blends the rhythms of merengue, salsa, cumbia, rumba, and tango.
UnitedHealthcare will offer these seminars in Spanish so participants feel comfortable and engaged when learning about their health care options. There are approximately 217,182 Hispanic-American seniors living in Monterey County who are eligible for Medicare.
"Seniors will receive health care information in a simple, clear manner, and they can also actively participate in the seminar so they feel confident in their health care decisions," said Susan Morisato, president, Ovations Insurance Solutions - UnitedHealthcare's Medicare Supplement business.
The Medicare education seminars will provide information on how Medicare works, who is eligible for Medicare, and the differences between Medicare Part A, B, C, and D. Seniors attending the Zumba® Gold fitness class will find a low-impact aerobic workout tailored for the older adult. Seniors should dress comfortably and wear sneakers.
UnitedHealthcare, the insurer of AARP® Medicare Supplement insurance plans, will conduct two educational seminars:
Wednesday, April 7th
9:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.
City of Salinas Community Center
940 North Main Street
Salinas, CA 93906
Seniors interested in learning more about the Medicare education program should call 1-866-305-0081.
About UnitedHealthcare – Ovations Insurance Solutions
Ovations Insurance Solutions, a UnitedHealth Group business unit, is the nation's largest provider of Medicare supplemental insurance programs for Medicare beneficiaries. The portfolio of insurance plans offers affordable and accessible health care products and services to members of AARP through plans that carry the AARP name, which are underwritten by UnitedHealthcare. UnitedHealthcare pays a fee to AARP and its affiliate for use of the AARP trademark and other services. Amounts paid are used for the general purposes of AARP and its members. Neither AARP nor its affiliate is the insurer.
Showing posts with label Latino Health Clinics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Latino Health Clinics. Show all posts
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Latino clinic offers transplant info in Spanish
Spanish Only, Please: Special Latino Clinic Launched For Potential Abdominal Transplant Patients
The Latino Journal, Vol. 3, Issue 5
NEW YORK -- Latinos in the Bronx and Westchester who have organ failure (kidney, pancreas or liver) now have the option of attending a Montefiore Medical Center specialty clinic on Thursdays, when the entire medical staff is fluent in Spanish.
"We established this unique Latino day at the Montefiore-Einstein Abdominal Transplant Center to help our Spanish-speaking patients understand the transplant procedure more thoroughly. I hope that it will give them a degree of comfort during a stressful time," said Javier Chapochnick Friedmann, MD, a native of Chile who joined Montefiore in 2008 as an Assistant Professor of Surgery and director of the pancreas transplant program at Montefiore. "We have a full day of patient education classes and medical evaluations that is the same as on other days at the Transplant Center; the only difference is that all the surgeons, nephrologists, nurses, nutritionists, financial and transplant coordinators speak Spanish." In addition, all educational materials and handbooks and are offered in Spanish.
According to Milan Kinkhabwala, MD, Professor of Surgery and director of the Montefiore Einstein Abdominal Transplant Center, a day dedicated only to Spanish-speaking transplant patients is unique in the Metro New York area, and one that is long overdue. "This reflects our commitment to our community and to ensuring the best possible results for our patients," said Dr. Kinkhabwala. "I hope that all our Spanish speaking patients take advantage of this opportunity." Since its inception in November, 2009 the Latino day at the Transplant Center has grown in popularity as word has spread: the clinic now sees up to 20 patients on any given Thursday.
The most recent faculty recruitment at the Transplant Center brings yet another native Spanish speaker: Graciela De Boccardo, MD, a transplant nephrologist who is a native Argentine. Dr. De Boccardo will be partnering with Dr. Chapochnick Friedmann in the Latino day at the Transplant Center.
Spanish-speaking patients are also always welcome to attend the transplant evaluation sessions any day of the week, when English is spoken. All patients are seen in a brand new suite of offices at the Moses campus of Montefiore, on Rosenthal 2. Patients who call the general number for the Montefiore-Einstein Abdominal Transplant Center (877.287.3536 for kidney or 877 RXLIVER for liver) will be asked if they would prefer to listen to the phone information in Spanish or English. If they choose Spanish, they can be referred to the Latino clinic on Thursdays.
Given the success of the Thursday kidney and pancreas clinics, Dr. Chapochnick Friedmann hopes to soon expand the Latino day concept to liver transplant patients as well.
Montefiore Medical Center encompasses 126 years of outstanding patient care, innovative medical "firsts," pioneering clinical research, dedicated community service and ground-breaking social activism. A full-service, integrated delivery system caring for patients in the New York metropolitan region and beyond, Montefiore is a 1,491-bed medical center that includes: four hospitals -- the Henry and Lucy Moses Division, the Jack D. Weiler Division, the North Division and The Children's Hospital at Montefiore; a large home healthcare agency; the largest school health program in the U.S.; a 23-site medical group practice integrated throughout the Bronx and Westchester; and, a care management organization providing services to 179,000 health plan members.
In 2008, The Children's Hospital at Montefiore was ranked as one of "America's Best Children's Hospitals" in US News & World Report's prestigious annual listing and also received honors in the magazine's 2009 edition. The Leapfrog Group lists Montefiore among the top one percent of all U.S. hospitals based on its strategic investments in sophisticated and integrated healthcare technology.
Montefiore is committed to meeting the healthcare needs of the future through medical education and manages one of the largest residency programs in the country. Montefiore is The University Hospital and Academic Medical Center for Albert Einstein College of Medicine and has an affiliation with New York Medical College for residency programs at the North Division.
Distinguished centers of excellence at Montefiore include cardiology and cardiac surgery, cancer care, tissue and organ transplantation, children's health, women's health, surgery and the surgical subspecialties. Montefiore is a national leader in the research and treatment of diabetes, headaches, obesity, cough and sleep disorders, geriatrics and geriatric psychiatry, neurology and neurosurgery, adolescent and family medicine, HIV/AIDS and social and environmental medicine, among many other specialties. For more information, please visit www.montefiore.org or www.montekids.org.
SOURCE Montefiore Medical Center
The Latino Journal, Vol. 3, Issue 5
NEW YORK -- Latinos in the Bronx and Westchester who have organ failure (kidney, pancreas or liver) now have the option of attending a Montefiore Medical Center specialty clinic on Thursdays, when the entire medical staff is fluent in Spanish.
"We established this unique Latino day at the Montefiore-Einstein Abdominal Transplant Center to help our Spanish-speaking patients understand the transplant procedure more thoroughly. I hope that it will give them a degree of comfort during a stressful time," said Javier Chapochnick Friedmann, MD, a native of Chile who joined Montefiore in 2008 as an Assistant Professor of Surgery and director of the pancreas transplant program at Montefiore. "We have a full day of patient education classes and medical evaluations that is the same as on other days at the Transplant Center; the only difference is that all the surgeons, nephrologists, nurses, nutritionists, financial and transplant coordinators speak Spanish." In addition, all educational materials and handbooks and are offered in Spanish.
According to Milan Kinkhabwala, MD, Professor of Surgery and director of the Montefiore Einstein Abdominal Transplant Center, a day dedicated only to Spanish-speaking transplant patients is unique in the Metro New York area, and one that is long overdue. "This reflects our commitment to our community and to ensuring the best possible results for our patients," said Dr. Kinkhabwala. "I hope that all our Spanish speaking patients take advantage of this opportunity." Since its inception in November, 2009 the Latino day at the Transplant Center has grown in popularity as word has spread: the clinic now sees up to 20 patients on any given Thursday.
The most recent faculty recruitment at the Transplant Center brings yet another native Spanish speaker: Graciela De Boccardo, MD, a transplant nephrologist who is a native Argentine. Dr. De Boccardo will be partnering with Dr. Chapochnick Friedmann in the Latino day at the Transplant Center.
Spanish-speaking patients are also always welcome to attend the transplant evaluation sessions any day of the week, when English is spoken. All patients are seen in a brand new suite of offices at the Moses campus of Montefiore, on Rosenthal 2. Patients who call the general number for the Montefiore-Einstein Abdominal Transplant Center (877.287.3536 for kidney or 877 RXLIVER for liver) will be asked if they would prefer to listen to the phone information in Spanish or English. If they choose Spanish, they can be referred to the Latino clinic on Thursdays.
Given the success of the Thursday kidney and pancreas clinics, Dr. Chapochnick Friedmann hopes to soon expand the Latino day concept to liver transplant patients as well.
Montefiore Medical Center encompasses 126 years of outstanding patient care, innovative medical "firsts," pioneering clinical research, dedicated community service and ground-breaking social activism. A full-service, integrated delivery system caring for patients in the New York metropolitan region and beyond, Montefiore is a 1,491-bed medical center that includes: four hospitals -- the Henry and Lucy Moses Division, the Jack D. Weiler Division, the North Division and The Children's Hospital at Montefiore; a large home healthcare agency; the largest school health program in the U.S.; a 23-site medical group practice integrated throughout the Bronx and Westchester; and, a care management organization providing services to 179,000 health plan members.
In 2008, The Children's Hospital at Montefiore was ranked as one of "America's Best Children's Hospitals" in US News & World Report's prestigious annual listing and also received honors in the magazine's 2009 edition. The Leapfrog Group lists Montefiore among the top one percent of all U.S. hospitals based on its strategic investments in sophisticated and integrated healthcare technology.
Montefiore is committed to meeting the healthcare needs of the future through medical education and manages one of the largest residency programs in the country. Montefiore is The University Hospital and Academic Medical Center for Albert Einstein College of Medicine and has an affiliation with New York Medical College for residency programs at the North Division.
Distinguished centers of excellence at Montefiore include cardiology and cardiac surgery, cancer care, tissue and organ transplantation, children's health, women's health, surgery and the surgical subspecialties. Montefiore is a national leader in the research and treatment of diabetes, headaches, obesity, cough and sleep disorders, geriatrics and geriatric psychiatry, neurology and neurosurgery, adolescent and family medicine, HIV/AIDS and social and environmental medicine, among many other specialties. For more information, please visit www.montefiore.org or www.montekids.org.
SOURCE Montefiore Medical Center
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Student blood drive in honor of Latino leader
WANTED: Student Organizers for the National Cesar E. Chavez Blood Drive Challenge
The National Cesar E. Chavez Blood Drive Challenge is now on 100+ university/college campuses! And we'd like to grow the event further on to every U.S. college/university, including yours! The target date for the blood drive is on or near March 31st, on Cesar E. Chavez’s Birthday. Your local blood center is ready to support you, but they need a student organization to sponsor the event on campus.
Can you help us identify a student organizer on your campus?
I have attached a flyer, the student organizer application, and the photo of last year’s challenge winner.
More info and pic slideshow may be found at: http://www.migrantstudents.org/servicelearning.html
The National Cesar E. Chavez Blood Drive Challenge is now on 100+ university/college campuses! And we'd like to grow the event further on to every U.S. college/university, including yours! The target date for the blood drive is on or near March 31st, on Cesar E. Chavez’s Birthday. Your local blood center is ready to support you, but they need a student organization to sponsor the event on campus.
Can you help us identify a student organizer on your campus?
I have attached a flyer, the student organizer application, and the photo of last year’s challenge winner.
More info and pic slideshow may be found at: http://www.migrantstudents.org/servicelearning.html
Monday, October 5, 2009
Bilingual health events for Latinos planned
Health events in October focus on Latinos
The Associated Press, Oct. 2, 2009
DALLAS — Consulates from Latin America and several health agencies are kicking off a series of bilingual health events this month in North Texas.
The effort led by the Mexican consulate begins Saturday in Fort Worth and runs through Oct. 29. Six other consulates are participating, including those of Peru and El Salvador.
Officials say the events are a chance for people to receive health advice in Spanish, without regard to immigration status. They point out that Hispanics have higher rates for some illnesses and on-the-job injuries. Many also may lack health insurance.
Events also are scheduled for Denton, Dallas and Arlington. They will include free screenings for osteoporosis, low-cost vaccines, coupons for mammograms, AIDS awareness and other health information.
The Associated Press, Oct. 2, 2009
DALLAS — Consulates from Latin America and several health agencies are kicking off a series of bilingual health events this month in North Texas.
The effort led by the Mexican consulate begins Saturday in Fort Worth and runs through Oct. 29. Six other consulates are participating, including those of Peru and El Salvador.
Officials say the events are a chance for people to receive health advice in Spanish, without regard to immigration status. They point out that Hispanics have higher rates for some illnesses and on-the-job injuries. Many also may lack health insurance.
Events also are scheduled for Denton, Dallas and Arlington. They will include free screenings for osteoporosis, low-cost vaccines, coupons for mammograms, AIDS awareness and other health information.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Latinos and Blacks will gain from new diabetes center
South Dallas diabetes education goes into the neighborhood
By ROY APPLETON and DIANNE SOLÍS / The Dallas Morning News, September 23, 2009
The diagnosis of diabetes is accelerating across the nation, most commonly afflicting blacks and Latinos.
With those realities in mind, Baylor Health Care System is confronting the disease in a core spot – South Dallas.
Hospital and city officials joined neighborhood leaders Tuesday morning at Juanita Craft Recreation Center for a ceremonial groundbreaking of what they hope will be a model for diabetes care.
The center at 4500 Spring Ave. will become home next year to Baylor's Diabetes Health and Wellness Institute – an initiative involving both treatment and prevention with a goal of improving lives and reducing health care costs.
"Instead of treating the disease in our hospitals, we want to deal with it in the neighborhoods," said Dr. Paul Convery, chief medical officer of the Baylor system.
The Rev. Henry Green Jr. attended the event. He presides over the Community Outreach Baptist Church, across the street from the recreation center. He knows diabetes well. The lanky 62-year-old was diagnosed seven years ago and plans to work closely with the initiative.
Even with health insurance, the preacher found it difficult to find a good diabetes education program near his home, he said.
"With this place here, I can see a lot of us not losing our legs, not losing our eyesight, not losing our lives because of diabetes," he said. "I applaud Baylor for making a bold statement."
The institute will offer a clinic staffed by doctors and other medical specialists, affordable medications, plus diabetes education ranging from nutrition and cooking classes to exercise programs.
The Juanita Craft center will still offer its regular services and will be expanded for the institute. The city is contributing $2 million toward that work with Baylor paying $15 million for construction, equipping and staffing the institute for four years, Convery said.
The institute will be open to all regardless of residency, insurance or income. "We won't turn anyone away," he said.
South Dallas was selected because of its predominantly black population that is relatively poor, medically underserved with limited access to healthy food, he said.
"It was considered the least healthy area of Dallas County," he said.
Nationwide, 6 percent of the population was diagnosed with diabetes in 2006, up from about 3 percent in 1997, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. And in Texas, diabetes rates are highest among African-Americans (12.9 percent) and Latinos (12.3 percent) compared with Anglos (8.5 percent), according to the Texas Diabetes Council.
rappleton@dallasnews.com;
dsolis@dallasnews.com
By ROY APPLETON and DIANNE SOLÍS / The Dallas Morning News, September 23, 2009
The diagnosis of diabetes is accelerating across the nation, most commonly afflicting blacks and Latinos.
With those realities in mind, Baylor Health Care System is confronting the disease in a core spot – South Dallas.
Hospital and city officials joined neighborhood leaders Tuesday morning at Juanita Craft Recreation Center for a ceremonial groundbreaking of what they hope will be a model for diabetes care.
The center at 4500 Spring Ave. will become home next year to Baylor's Diabetes Health and Wellness Institute – an initiative involving both treatment and prevention with a goal of improving lives and reducing health care costs.
"Instead of treating the disease in our hospitals, we want to deal with it in the neighborhoods," said Dr. Paul Convery, chief medical officer of the Baylor system.
The Rev. Henry Green Jr. attended the event. He presides over the Community Outreach Baptist Church, across the street from the recreation center. He knows diabetes well. The lanky 62-year-old was diagnosed seven years ago and plans to work closely with the initiative.
Even with health insurance, the preacher found it difficult to find a good diabetes education program near his home, he said.
"With this place here, I can see a lot of us not losing our legs, not losing our eyesight, not losing our lives because of diabetes," he said. "I applaud Baylor for making a bold statement."
The institute will offer a clinic staffed by doctors and other medical specialists, affordable medications, plus diabetes education ranging from nutrition and cooking classes to exercise programs.
The Juanita Craft center will still offer its regular services and will be expanded for the institute. The city is contributing $2 million toward that work with Baylor paying $15 million for construction, equipping and staffing the institute for four years, Convery said.
The institute will be open to all regardless of residency, insurance or income. "We won't turn anyone away," he said.
South Dallas was selected because of its predominantly black population that is relatively poor, medically underserved with limited access to healthy food, he said.
"It was considered the least healthy area of Dallas County," he said.
Nationwide, 6 percent of the population was diagnosed with diabetes in 2006, up from about 3 percent in 1997, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. And in Texas, diabetes rates are highest among African-Americans (12.9 percent) and Latinos (12.3 percent) compared with Anglos (8.5 percent), according to the Texas Diabetes Council.
rappleton@dallasnews.com;
dsolis@dallasnews.com
Monday, July 27, 2009
Workshops on safety for Hispanic laborers
Morris workshops focus on safety for Hispanic laborers
Morristown Neighborhood House, OSHA form alliance
KAYLA HASTRUP • Daily Record • July 26, 2009
MORRISTOWN -- The Morristown Neighborhood House has formed an alliance with the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration to try to reduce workplace accidents and fatalities among Hispanic workers in construction and industry.
"We're helping to make sure our workers are safe and minimize workplace injuries," said David Walker, executive director for Morristown Neighborhood House. "They all need jobs and want to work hard, but they need to be safe."
The Neighborhood House has a program known as "pathways to work" that links day laborers with employers. OSHA will work within the program to offer a wide variety of workshops for workers and employers.
"We want to make sure our workers know the rules of the road," Walker said. Some specific things the workshops will teach them include: what sort of safety equipment an employer should have, what sort of training should be provided prior to working, and what the recourse is if an injury is sustained.
"By working together, the two organizations hope to reduce workplace accidents," said Lenore Fortson, an OSHA spokeswoman.
In 2006, 990 Hispanics died as a result of work-related accidents, Fortson said.
"I think there is a concern with the language barrier," Fortson said. "It's an obstacle that we hope to work against ... it's important to make sure that the information that identifies hazards is available in both English and Spanish and there are people that are educated in these issues."
Although the "ink is still wet" in regards to the alliance and the first workshop was held last week, according to Walker, they are eager to hold more workshops and continue the ongoing alliance. "We're excited to have another resource available here at the Neighborhood House," Walker said. 'We want to make sure working people are protected."
The Neighborhood House was founded in 1898 as a settlement house that helped Italian immigrants become acclimated with American culture. It's missions is to help new immigrants and low-income families foster cross-cultural relationships. MNH operates eight sites throughout Morris County.
OSHA currently has more than 470 safety and health alliances throughout the nation as part of the agency's ongoing efforts to improve the health and safety of employees through cooperative partnerships with trade associations, labor organizations, employers and government agencies, according to the agency.
For more information about the alliance or about worker safety issues, call 973-263-1003.
Kayla Hastrup: 973-428-6655; khastrup@gannett.com
Morristown Neighborhood House, OSHA form alliance
KAYLA HASTRUP • Daily Record • July 26, 2009
MORRISTOWN -- The Morristown Neighborhood House has formed an alliance with the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration to try to reduce workplace accidents and fatalities among Hispanic workers in construction and industry.
"We're helping to make sure our workers are safe and minimize workplace injuries," said David Walker, executive director for Morristown Neighborhood House. "They all need jobs and want to work hard, but they need to be safe."
The Neighborhood House has a program known as "pathways to work" that links day laborers with employers. OSHA will work within the program to offer a wide variety of workshops for workers and employers.
"We want to make sure our workers know the rules of the road," Walker said. Some specific things the workshops will teach them include: what sort of safety equipment an employer should have, what sort of training should be provided prior to working, and what the recourse is if an injury is sustained.
"By working together, the two organizations hope to reduce workplace accidents," said Lenore Fortson, an OSHA spokeswoman.
In 2006, 990 Hispanics died as a result of work-related accidents, Fortson said.
"I think there is a concern with the language barrier," Fortson said. "It's an obstacle that we hope to work against ... it's important to make sure that the information that identifies hazards is available in both English and Spanish and there are people that are educated in these issues."
Although the "ink is still wet" in regards to the alliance and the first workshop was held last week, according to Walker, they are eager to hold more workshops and continue the ongoing alliance. "We're excited to have another resource available here at the Neighborhood House," Walker said. 'We want to make sure working people are protected."
The Neighborhood House was founded in 1898 as a settlement house that helped Italian immigrants become acclimated with American culture. It's missions is to help new immigrants and low-income families foster cross-cultural relationships. MNH operates eight sites throughout Morris County.
OSHA currently has more than 470 safety and health alliances throughout the nation as part of the agency's ongoing efforts to improve the health and safety of employees through cooperative partnerships with trade associations, labor organizations, employers and government agencies, according to the agency.
For more information about the alliance or about worker safety issues, call 973-263-1003.
Kayla Hastrup: 973-428-6655; khastrup@gannett.com
Friday, July 17, 2009
Hispanic group to host Health Care townhall
IN UNCERTAIN TIMES, 2009 NCLR ANNUAL CONFERENCE TOWN HALLS ADDRESS HEALTH CARE
PRESS RELEASE
Washington, DC—U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis; President and CEO of NCLR (National Council of La Raza) Janet Murguía; and U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan along with Wal-Mart Senior Vice President Dr. John Agwunobi and President and CEO of the National Urban League Marc Morial are among the panelists scheduled to participate in town hall meetings focused on national priorities during the 2009 NCLR Annual Conference.
In the midst of shaky economic times, Americans are concerned with the health and security of their families; while community-based organizations cope with serving the community and helping to keep families afloat. Expert panelists will focus on the road to economic recovery, what health care reform means for families, and solutions for how nonprofit organizations can increase financial support during the dismal economic crisis.
The town hall meetings, which are free and open to the public, will be held Saturday, July 25-Monday, July 27 in Room W-181abc at McCormick Place West in downtown Chicago, IL.
Visit www.nclr.org for more information. Press can register to attend conference at no cost at www.nclr.org/pressregistration.
Limited Seating
Sunday, July 26, 2009, 3:30–5:00 P.M.
A Pound of Cure: The Role of Prevention in the Health Care Reform Debate
Co-Lead Sponsors: AARP, Office of Minority Health, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
· Featured Speaker: Hilda Solis, Secretary of Labor, U.S. Department of Labor
· Moderator: Maria Elena Salinas, Co-Anchor of Noticiero Univision
· Dr. Maria E. Rosa, Vice President, NCLR Institute for Hispanic Health
· Dr. John O. Agwunobi, Senior Vice President and President for Health and Wellness, Wal-Mart
· Jennie Chin Hansen, President, AARP
· Dr. Garth Graham, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Minority Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
· Mary Medina, Board Member, National Forum for Latino Healthcare Executives
· Miguel Palacio, Associate Director, Association House of Chicago
SATURDAY, JULY 25, 3:00–4:30 P.M.
A New Era of Philanthropy: A Look at the Current Economic Climate and Its Impact on Latino Organizations
Monday, July 27, 2009, 3:00–4:30 P.M.
Putting Our Communities on the Map: The Economic Road to Recovery
NCLR is the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States. The NCLR Annual Conference is the largest national gathering of its kind in the Latino community, serving as the meeting ground for community leaders, activists, and elected and appointed officials; members of the corporate, philanthropic, and academic communities; and youth.
PRESS RELEASE
Washington, DC—U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis; President and CEO of NCLR (National Council of La Raza) Janet Murguía; and U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan along with Wal-Mart Senior Vice President Dr. John Agwunobi and President and CEO of the National Urban League Marc Morial are among the panelists scheduled to participate in town hall meetings focused on national priorities during the 2009 NCLR Annual Conference.
In the midst of shaky economic times, Americans are concerned with the health and security of their families; while community-based organizations cope with serving the community and helping to keep families afloat. Expert panelists will focus on the road to economic recovery, what health care reform means for families, and solutions for how nonprofit organizations can increase financial support during the dismal economic crisis.
The town hall meetings, which are free and open to the public, will be held Saturday, July 25-Monday, July 27 in Room W-181abc at McCormick Place West in downtown Chicago, IL.
Visit www.nclr.org for more information. Press can register to attend conference at no cost at www.nclr.org/pressregistration.
Limited Seating
Sunday, July 26, 2009, 3:30–5:00 P.M.
A Pound of Cure: The Role of Prevention in the Health Care Reform Debate
Co-Lead Sponsors: AARP, Office of Minority Health, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
· Featured Speaker: Hilda Solis, Secretary of Labor, U.S. Department of Labor
· Moderator: Maria Elena Salinas, Co-Anchor of Noticiero Univision
· Dr. Maria E. Rosa, Vice President, NCLR Institute for Hispanic Health
· Dr. John O. Agwunobi, Senior Vice President and President for Health and Wellness, Wal-Mart
· Jennie Chin Hansen, President, AARP
· Dr. Garth Graham, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Minority Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
· Mary Medina, Board Member, National Forum for Latino Healthcare Executives
· Miguel Palacio, Associate Director, Association House of Chicago
SATURDAY, JULY 25, 3:00–4:30 P.M.
A New Era of Philanthropy: A Look at the Current Economic Climate and Its Impact on Latino Organizations
Monday, July 27, 2009, 3:00–4:30 P.M.
Putting Our Communities on the Map: The Economic Road to Recovery
NCLR is the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States. The NCLR Annual Conference is the largest national gathering of its kind in the Latino community, serving as the meeting ground for community leaders, activists, and elected and appointed officials; members of the corporate, philanthropic, and academic communities; and youth.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Latino mental health services not easy
Bringing mental-health services to Latinos is easier said than done
Ventura County Star, April 30, 2009
April is Child Abuse Prevention Month. In the literature of The Partnership for Safe Families, I read: “There is tremendous importance in understanding child abuse and the need for our community to help families overcome the devastating problem. A well-informed and strong family is the greatest defense against child abuse and neglect.” How many adults and youths who hurt children suffer from some kind of mental illness? I suspect it is an incredibly large percentage.
People suffer from myriad mental illnesses they often do not label correctly, recognize or deny. They are major contributing dynamics in the cycle of familial violence and abuse.
Mental illness has always frightened and fascinated me. I have tried throughout my lifetime to ignore and hide from the many varieties of mental illnesses that have afflicted and surrounded me, my family, friends and folks I work with in the community. Like so many of my brothers and sisters in the barrio, I hid from the excruciating pain of not understanding the dimensions of mental illness, through the masks of alcohol, ignorance, denial and bravado.
A lot of denial
I am a Chicano, the benefactor of a machismo legacy, and my/our principal macho mantra is denial and super-stubborn resistance to anything that I/we do not understand. I witnessed the devastating effect of mental illness on me, my loved ones and the people around me.
In retrospect, I can understand that, in stupidity and fear, I attributed the condition to personal weakness. The true and sick macho proclaims: “Mental illness does not exist; the issue is always an issue of personal character, personal strength or weakness! Punto aparte!
I have a relative whose way of coping with mental illness is alcohol abuse, violence, denial and a pathetic lack of ownership of his life, of love and his own self-worth, which reduces him to a tragic poster child for the desperate need for mental-health services to Latinos in our communities. I love him and I don’t know how to help him; hell, I don’t know how to help myself when it comes to mental illness! It has always been our family affliction and help is nowhere to be found. So we suffer silently and alone.
Until recently, I had no other information. No one had ever given me another direction! In our Latino community, mental illness continues to be labeled a personal weakness or character defect, something shameful that must be hidden and denied.
Then, some 15 years ago, came the kids of the KEYS Leadership Academy. They opened up with their brand of unconditional love and started to share their pain, mental anguish, anger, fears, aspirations and dreams with Debbie De Vries and me. I came to understand how courageous they were and that they were always completely, sometimes brutally, honest about their mental anguish.
The recurring theme was that, more than anything, they wanted to love and be loved. These youths opened my mind and heart to the healing power of empathy, honest communication and unconditional love. This became my initial window into the power of the confessional narrative as a therapeutically significant tool, and as an antidote to alienation, numbing silence and mental pain.
I have written extensively regarding our work in Oxnard, where we have developed a highly effective prevention and intervention program — the KEYS Leadership Academy — to empower Oxnard youths and help them in their transformation into community stakeholders. We are proud of the many resources, programs and mentors who have become part of the ever-growing KEYS Leadership Academy family and services. However, what we have never been able to develop is a mental-health-services partnership or a counseling program that is culturally sensitive, affordable and readily accessible for youths who need/want mental-health counseling or therapy. It just does not exist for the youths we are working with.
So, in January, when Gabino Aguirre, a consultant with the Ventura County Behavioral Health Department, invited me to participate in the state Department of Mental Health’s prevention and early-intervention planning process, I jumped at the opportunity. I wanted to articulate my personal experiences and concerns regarding mental-health services as they affect our community, and assist in bringing professional, timely and culturally competent mental-health services to the Latino community, particularly to local Latino youths.
7 community needs identified
Since then, I have learned much about the important work of the prevention and early-intervention planning process, as mandated by the Mental Health Services Act. Seven key community needs have been identified as local priorities:
1. Underserved cultural populations.
2. Individuals experiencing an onset of serious psychiatric illness.
3. Children and youths in stressed families.
4. Trauma-exposed individuals.
5. Children and youths at risk for school failure.
6. Children and youths at risk of or experiencing juvenile-justice involvement.
7. Children and youths at risk of or experiencing stigma and/or discrimination.
I came to realize these priorities are exactly what are lacking in my community and what so many of us desperately need and are looking for. If our community had even minimal access to the seven mental-health-prioritized services, our Latino community would have much better mental health.
That is the sad irony of this planning process, namely, that these are not new revelations. What is new and important is that Ventura County Behavioral Health, under the leadership of Susan Kelly, secured the consultant services of Dr. Aguirre, one of the pre-eminent and most respected Latino leaders in Ventura County, to assure that a diverse and multicultural amalgamation of community stakeholders participates in the process.
A new era
I truly believe this is the dawning of a new era in Ventura County, when, for the first time, culturally sensitive and universal access to mental-health services can be provided to Latinos, indeed to all of the underserved cultural populations identified as priority populations.
It will take the vigilance and participation of the community to make sure that Ventura County Behavioral Health not only does the research and data collection, but develops and implements the most effective mental-health services and programs available to our community. Universal mental-health services for all our underserved populations will quickly transform our community into a safer, stronger and more peaceful county and, perhaps in the years to come, we can designate April as “Embrace and Empower all of our Children with Love Month”!
Armando Vazquez of Oxnard is co-founder and director of the KEYS Leadership Academy at the Cafe on A in Oxnard.
Ventura County Star, April 30, 2009
April is Child Abuse Prevention Month. In the literature of The Partnership for Safe Families, I read: “There is tremendous importance in understanding child abuse and the need for our community to help families overcome the devastating problem. A well-informed and strong family is the greatest defense against child abuse and neglect.” How many adults and youths who hurt children suffer from some kind of mental illness? I suspect it is an incredibly large percentage.
People suffer from myriad mental illnesses they often do not label correctly, recognize or deny. They are major contributing dynamics in the cycle of familial violence and abuse.
Mental illness has always frightened and fascinated me. I have tried throughout my lifetime to ignore and hide from the many varieties of mental illnesses that have afflicted and surrounded me, my family, friends and folks I work with in the community. Like so many of my brothers and sisters in the barrio, I hid from the excruciating pain of not understanding the dimensions of mental illness, through the masks of alcohol, ignorance, denial and bravado.
A lot of denial
I am a Chicano, the benefactor of a machismo legacy, and my/our principal macho mantra is denial and super-stubborn resistance to anything that I/we do not understand. I witnessed the devastating effect of mental illness on me, my loved ones and the people around me.
In retrospect, I can understand that, in stupidity and fear, I attributed the condition to personal weakness. The true and sick macho proclaims: “Mental illness does not exist; the issue is always an issue of personal character, personal strength or weakness! Punto aparte!
I have a relative whose way of coping with mental illness is alcohol abuse, violence, denial and a pathetic lack of ownership of his life, of love and his own self-worth, which reduces him to a tragic poster child for the desperate need for mental-health services to Latinos in our communities. I love him and I don’t know how to help him; hell, I don’t know how to help myself when it comes to mental illness! It has always been our family affliction and help is nowhere to be found. So we suffer silently and alone.
Until recently, I had no other information. No one had ever given me another direction! In our Latino community, mental illness continues to be labeled a personal weakness or character defect, something shameful that must be hidden and denied.
Then, some 15 years ago, came the kids of the KEYS Leadership Academy. They opened up with their brand of unconditional love and started to share their pain, mental anguish, anger, fears, aspirations and dreams with Debbie De Vries and me. I came to understand how courageous they were and that they were always completely, sometimes brutally, honest about their mental anguish.
The recurring theme was that, more than anything, they wanted to love and be loved. These youths opened my mind and heart to the healing power of empathy, honest communication and unconditional love. This became my initial window into the power of the confessional narrative as a therapeutically significant tool, and as an antidote to alienation, numbing silence and mental pain.
I have written extensively regarding our work in Oxnard, where we have developed a highly effective prevention and intervention program — the KEYS Leadership Academy — to empower Oxnard youths and help them in their transformation into community stakeholders. We are proud of the many resources, programs and mentors who have become part of the ever-growing KEYS Leadership Academy family and services. However, what we have never been able to develop is a mental-health-services partnership or a counseling program that is culturally sensitive, affordable and readily accessible for youths who need/want mental-health counseling or therapy. It just does not exist for the youths we are working with.
So, in January, when Gabino Aguirre, a consultant with the Ventura County Behavioral Health Department, invited me to participate in the state Department of Mental Health’s prevention and early-intervention planning process, I jumped at the opportunity. I wanted to articulate my personal experiences and concerns regarding mental-health services as they affect our community, and assist in bringing professional, timely and culturally competent mental-health services to the Latino community, particularly to local Latino youths.
7 community needs identified
Since then, I have learned much about the important work of the prevention and early-intervention planning process, as mandated by the Mental Health Services Act. Seven key community needs have been identified as local priorities:
1. Underserved cultural populations.
2. Individuals experiencing an onset of serious psychiatric illness.
3. Children and youths in stressed families.
4. Trauma-exposed individuals.
5. Children and youths at risk for school failure.
6. Children and youths at risk of or experiencing juvenile-justice involvement.
7. Children and youths at risk of or experiencing stigma and/or discrimination.
I came to realize these priorities are exactly what are lacking in my community and what so many of us desperately need and are looking for. If our community had even minimal access to the seven mental-health-prioritized services, our Latino community would have much better mental health.
That is the sad irony of this planning process, namely, that these are not new revelations. What is new and important is that Ventura County Behavioral Health, under the leadership of Susan Kelly, secured the consultant services of Dr. Aguirre, one of the pre-eminent and most respected Latino leaders in Ventura County, to assure that a diverse and multicultural amalgamation of community stakeholders participates in the process.
A new era
I truly believe this is the dawning of a new era in Ventura County, when, for the first time, culturally sensitive and universal access to mental-health services can be provided to Latinos, indeed to all of the underserved cultural populations identified as priority populations.
It will take the vigilance and participation of the community to make sure that Ventura County Behavioral Health not only does the research and data collection, but develops and implements the most effective mental-health services and programs available to our community. Universal mental-health services for all our underserved populations will quickly transform our community into a safer, stronger and more peaceful county and, perhaps in the years to come, we can designate April as “Embrace and Empower all of our Children with Love Month”!
Armando Vazquez of Oxnard is co-founder and director of the KEYS Leadership Academy at the Cafe on A in Oxnard.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Hispanic health day event planned
Hispanic Health Day Event In Tarrytown
by Westchester.com, 21 April 2009
Westchester Health NewsSleepy Hollow, NY - Twenty-five Spanish-speaking doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals from Phelps Memorial Hospital Center will participate in Hispanic Health Day at the John Paulding Elementary School, 154 North Broadway in Tarrytown on Saturday, April 25 from 1-5 pm, rain or shine.
Free and open to the public, the event is coordinated by the Westchester County Office for Hispanic Affairs.
Healthcare professionals from Phelps will provide free screenings including breast exams, blood pressure screenings, glucose monitoring and mental health assessments. Representatives from Phelps’ department of obstetrics and gynecology will provide information on prenatal care, and healthcare staff from the departments of physical therapy and occupational therapy will share information on how to prevent sports-related injuries in children and adults.
Other organizations participating in the health fair include St. Vincent’s Hospital-Westchester, Open Door Family Medical Center, National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Even Start Family Health Literacy Program, Westchester Library System, Hudson Health Plan, OSHA, Dominican Sisters Family Health Service, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and New Hope Fellowship. For more information on Hispanic Health Day, call 914-995-2476.
Phelps Memorial Hospital Center is a 235-bed community hospital with 450 medical staff, representing 34 clinical specialties. Phelps is the exclusive Westchester satellite for Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and a clinical affiliate of Mount Sinai Hospital. www.phelpshospital.org
by Westchester.com, 21 April 2009
Westchester Health NewsSleepy Hollow, NY - Twenty-five Spanish-speaking doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals from Phelps Memorial Hospital Center will participate in Hispanic Health Day at the John Paulding Elementary School, 154 North Broadway in Tarrytown on Saturday, April 25 from 1-5 pm, rain or shine.
Free and open to the public, the event is coordinated by the Westchester County Office for Hispanic Affairs.
Healthcare professionals from Phelps will provide free screenings including breast exams, blood pressure screenings, glucose monitoring and mental health assessments. Representatives from Phelps’ department of obstetrics and gynecology will provide information on prenatal care, and healthcare staff from the departments of physical therapy and occupational therapy will share information on how to prevent sports-related injuries in children and adults.
Other organizations participating in the health fair include St. Vincent’s Hospital-Westchester, Open Door Family Medical Center, National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Even Start Family Health Literacy Program, Westchester Library System, Hudson Health Plan, OSHA, Dominican Sisters Family Health Service, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and New Hope Fellowship. For more information on Hispanic Health Day, call 914-995-2476.
Phelps Memorial Hospital Center is a 235-bed community hospital with 450 medical staff, representing 34 clinical specialties. Phelps is the exclusive Westchester satellite for Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and a clinical affiliate of Mount Sinai Hospital. www.phelpshospital.org
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Clinic serves Hispanic population
Hickory Hill clinic to help Hispanics
Christ Community looks to aid growing population
By Daniel Connolly, Memphis Commercial Appeal, April 4, 2009
Christ Community Health Services, which runs clinics for the poor, is opening a new center in Hickory Hill and has hired Spanish-speaking staffers to serve the neighborhood's large Hispanic population.
The clinic saw its first 30 patients Thursday and plans a grand opening celebration Tuesday.
"I think it's a wonderful way for us in helping people be better, and hopefully helping a community be better," said Christ Community CEO Burt Waller.
The clinic's opening reflects the economic and demographic changes that have swept Hickory Hill in recent years. Many white residents have left and the number of black and Hispanic residents has boomed.
Major businesses have fled the once-prosperous area for points farther east, leaving behind hulks of decaying suburbia including the Hickory Ridge Mall, which was recently bought by a church.
The strip mall at Winchester and Mendenhall, where Christ Community is located, illustrates the changes.
The shopping center once housed a Kroger's grocery store but it's long gone, as are most of the other major tenants. Big banners advertise vacancies.
Other shopping centers in the neighborhood are dotted with Spanish-language signs that advertise everything from mom-and-pop grocery stores to real estate.
Christ Community, which receives backing from the federal government, began looking for space in Hickory Hill some time ago, said Waller.
"Just as the commercial portion of Hickory Hill had declined through the years, the medical community had declined," he said.
Many patients from the neighborhood were driving to other Christ Community clinics throughout the area, and hospitals complained that patients from Hickory Hill were using their emergency rooms as doctors' offices, he said.
The new clinic will offer checkups and other basic medical care to children and adults and allows patients to pay on a sliding scale. Start-up costs will be about $600,000, Waller said.
The leader of the clinic is Dr. Jeffrey Zsohar, a 35-year-old internist who recently spent about 18 months helping AIDS patients in the southern African nation of Botswana.
He said he's making the rounds of local churches and institutions to let patients know about the services the clinic provides.
Several clinic staffers speak Spanish, said Zsohar, who doesn't know the language himself. Most Hispanics in Memphis are recent emigrants from Mexico and Central America or their children.
There are some local clinics that specialize in treating Hispanics, such as CentroSalud and Medicos Para la Familia.
However, Waller said there's still a need for more services for Hispanics, who face language, cultural and financial barriers as they access care. Perhaps as many as half of the clinic's patients will be Hispanic, Waller said. Hispanics already make up a substantial portion of patients at the other Christ Community clinics.
Zsohar said he's excited about the opportunity to help.
"Starting from a personal point of view, this is an incredible blessing."
Daniel Connolly: 529-5296
Christ Community looks to aid growing population
By Daniel Connolly, Memphis Commercial Appeal, April 4, 2009
Christ Community Health Services, which runs clinics for the poor, is opening a new center in Hickory Hill and has hired Spanish-speaking staffers to serve the neighborhood's large Hispanic population.
The clinic saw its first 30 patients Thursday and plans a grand opening celebration Tuesday.
"I think it's a wonderful way for us in helping people be better, and hopefully helping a community be better," said Christ Community CEO Burt Waller.
The clinic's opening reflects the economic and demographic changes that have swept Hickory Hill in recent years. Many white residents have left and the number of black and Hispanic residents has boomed.
Major businesses have fled the once-prosperous area for points farther east, leaving behind hulks of decaying suburbia including the Hickory Ridge Mall, which was recently bought by a church.
The strip mall at Winchester and Mendenhall, where Christ Community is located, illustrates the changes.
The shopping center once housed a Kroger's grocery store but it's long gone, as are most of the other major tenants. Big banners advertise vacancies.
Other shopping centers in the neighborhood are dotted with Spanish-language signs that advertise everything from mom-and-pop grocery stores to real estate.
Christ Community, which receives backing from the federal government, began looking for space in Hickory Hill some time ago, said Waller.
"Just as the commercial portion of Hickory Hill had declined through the years, the medical community had declined," he said.
Many patients from the neighborhood were driving to other Christ Community clinics throughout the area, and hospitals complained that patients from Hickory Hill were using their emergency rooms as doctors' offices, he said.
The new clinic will offer checkups and other basic medical care to children and adults and allows patients to pay on a sliding scale. Start-up costs will be about $600,000, Waller said.
The leader of the clinic is Dr. Jeffrey Zsohar, a 35-year-old internist who recently spent about 18 months helping AIDS patients in the southern African nation of Botswana.
He said he's making the rounds of local churches and institutions to let patients know about the services the clinic provides.
Several clinic staffers speak Spanish, said Zsohar, who doesn't know the language himself. Most Hispanics in Memphis are recent emigrants from Mexico and Central America or their children.
There are some local clinics that specialize in treating Hispanics, such as CentroSalud and Medicos Para la Familia.
However, Waller said there's still a need for more services for Hispanics, who face language, cultural and financial barriers as they access care. Perhaps as many as half of the clinic's patients will be Hispanic, Waller said. Hispanics already make up a substantial portion of patients at the other Christ Community clinics.
Zsohar said he's excited about the opportunity to help.
"Starting from a personal point of view, this is an incredible blessing."
Daniel Connolly: 529-5296
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Hispanic OB Clinic example of business and medicine
Carilion doctors explore the business side of medicine
The Hispanic OB clinic is an example of how Carilion is bringing physicians into business decisions to improve care and the system's financial bottom line.
By Sarah Bruyn Jones | The Roanoke Times
With the help of interpreter Lucia Driscoll (right), Murchison talks to Idalia Reyna-Reyna about Reyna-Reyna's pregnancy.
As Idalia Reyna-Reyna sat on the exam table, Dr. Amanda Murchison drew a picture of a womb to help describe what the ultrasound had shown.
At 19 weeks pregnant with her second child, Reyna-Reyna watched, glancing away from the doctor every few seconds to listen to Lucia Driscoll interpret Murchison's words.
While Murchison can say a few common phrases in Spanish, Driscoll is on hand to make sure the Spanish-speaking patients at Carilion Clinic's obstetric clinic really understand.
For Reyna-Reyna, 26, this meant understanding that the placenta was lying low in her uterus.
"It's OK right now, but later, if this is covering the cervix, the baby can't come out through the vagina," Murchison said in English, pausing for Driscoll to interpret.
"Most of the time as the uterus grows, the placenta will move up," Murchison continued. "We'll repeat an ultrasound in maybe five weeks and hopefully the placenta will be fine. If not, we'll talk about what we need to do down the road."
The rest of the exam went smoothly, and when Murchison asked if Reyna-Reyna had any other questions, the answer was no.
While having an interpreter available to help communicate with Spanish-speaking patients has been a practice for a while, Murchison recently took the lead in implementing some changes to improve the service.
About two months ago, her efforts paid off, when the first Tuesday morning Hispanic OB clinic kicked off.
Previously Spanish-speaking patients came to the clinic throughout the week -- and they are still welcome to come anytime -- and any interpretation was done over the phone. But by setting aside a morning to serve the Spanish-speaking population, Murchison was able to get three interpreters assigned to help meet the needs of every patient.
The story of the Hispanic OB clinic is just one of the changes that Carilion management says it's embracing as it seeks to bring physicians into business decisions. By turning to practicing physicians such as Murchison, Carilion officials said they believe they can improve care and improve the system's financial bottom line.
Murchison's idea for reshaping the clinic to better communicate with Spanish speakers came about as part of an internal 12-week development course to teach physicians business leadership. In all, 22 physicians participated in the course, each developing a project to restructure some aspect of their departments. Some of the projects, like Murchison's, focused on business plans for changing patient care, while others focused on ways to save money by cutting wasteful spending that may not be directly associated with patient care.
With management often describing the transformation of Carilion from a traditional hospital system to a "physician-led" clinic, the course was the first step in creating those physician leaders, said Dr. Mark Greenawald, who is the medical director in Carilion's office of professional development.
"We can't say magically that we are physician-led and all of a sudden doctors are leading," Greenawald said. "We have to give them the tools to lead and teach them the necessary skills in a deliberate way."
Greenawald was one of two people to develop and lead the course. The other was Mary Elizabeth Vogel, who was killed in an apparent murder-suicide in January.
Besides forming business plans to improve operations at Carilion, the group was also asked to help facilitate conversations with other physicians during the transition to the clinic. During the final class, Dr. Mark Werner, Carilion's chief medical officer, talked openly with the group about the tensions and concerns surrounding the transition.
"We have an incredible challenge," he said.
Teaching physicians leadership skills is a key component to the transition, Werner said, not only in fiscal management, but also in communicating the Carilion vision to other staff.
For Murchison the course forced her to step out of her comfort zone focused on treating patients and put together a business plan. She equated the course to a mini-MBA program.
"The slippery slope of that is we're trained to be health care providers, and not necessarily trained to be business people," she said.
Instead of simply proving that her Hispanic OB clinic idea was the right thing for patients, Murchison had to develop the business plan to support the concept. And once she started looking at the costs, she quickly realized that her dream of having six certified medical interpreters wasn't going to pass the financial viability test. She settled for three interpreters.
Dr. Tony Stavola, who was also a course participant, said it is imperative that physicians learn not only to make decisions based on what is in best interest of patients but also be aware of the financial consequences of those decisions.
"The most expensive item in medicine is the doctor's pen," Stavola said. "We [physicians] have to understand the health care system is not meeting the needs of the patients, it is not providing adequate chronic disease management. We have an obligation to get out in front of this discussion and try and take a lead in it, because otherwise we will be in the position of answering to someone else's lead."
That's a point that Greenawald emphasized during the class.
"When physicians realize there is financial accountability and there is an economic consequence and that patient quality of care still matters, then they start to understand what the numbers mean," Greenawald said.
Like Murchison, Stavola also developed a plan to address a patient care issue.
A physician in the Carilion Medical Group primary care division, Stavola wanted to make sure asthma patients were getting proper follow-up and preventative care. He teamed up with another Carilion Clinic Family Medicine physician, Dr. Michael Jeremiah, to tackle the issue.
Using Carilion's new electronic medical record system, Stavola and Jeremiah set out to develop a disease registry for asthma patients.
Using the electronic medical record, Stavola said he can give patients more educational material during the visit by simply hitting print. Additionally, Stavola said the registry will help monitor other things such as medication compliance, emergency room visits and whether the patient got a flu shot.
Stavola projects the registry will reduce costs by 10 percent. He's only tracking Carilion employees because he was able to make an arrangement with the insurance provider to access the necessary information.
"If we can reduce costs by 10 percent, then conservatively we would probably generate $100,000 in savings," he said. "Even in a fairly small group of patients, I'm talking about 800 to 1,000 patients, that's significant."
The Hispanic OB clinic is an example of how Carilion is bringing physicians into business decisions to improve care and the system's financial bottom line.
By Sarah Bruyn Jones | The Roanoke Times
With the help of interpreter Lucia Driscoll (right), Murchison talks to Idalia Reyna-Reyna about Reyna-Reyna's pregnancy.
As Idalia Reyna-Reyna sat on the exam table, Dr. Amanda Murchison drew a picture of a womb to help describe what the ultrasound had shown.
At 19 weeks pregnant with her second child, Reyna-Reyna watched, glancing away from the doctor every few seconds to listen to Lucia Driscoll interpret Murchison's words.
While Murchison can say a few common phrases in Spanish, Driscoll is on hand to make sure the Spanish-speaking patients at Carilion Clinic's obstetric clinic really understand.
For Reyna-Reyna, 26, this meant understanding that the placenta was lying low in her uterus.
"It's OK right now, but later, if this is covering the cervix, the baby can't come out through the vagina," Murchison said in English, pausing for Driscoll to interpret.
"Most of the time as the uterus grows, the placenta will move up," Murchison continued. "We'll repeat an ultrasound in maybe five weeks and hopefully the placenta will be fine. If not, we'll talk about what we need to do down the road."
The rest of the exam went smoothly, and when Murchison asked if Reyna-Reyna had any other questions, the answer was no.
While having an interpreter available to help communicate with Spanish-speaking patients has been a practice for a while, Murchison recently took the lead in implementing some changes to improve the service.
About two months ago, her efforts paid off, when the first Tuesday morning Hispanic OB clinic kicked off.
Previously Spanish-speaking patients came to the clinic throughout the week -- and they are still welcome to come anytime -- and any interpretation was done over the phone. But by setting aside a morning to serve the Spanish-speaking population, Murchison was able to get three interpreters assigned to help meet the needs of every patient.
The story of the Hispanic OB clinic is just one of the changes that Carilion management says it's embracing as it seeks to bring physicians into business decisions. By turning to practicing physicians such as Murchison, Carilion officials said they believe they can improve care and improve the system's financial bottom line.
Murchison's idea for reshaping the clinic to better communicate with Spanish speakers came about as part of an internal 12-week development course to teach physicians business leadership. In all, 22 physicians participated in the course, each developing a project to restructure some aspect of their departments. Some of the projects, like Murchison's, focused on business plans for changing patient care, while others focused on ways to save money by cutting wasteful spending that may not be directly associated with patient care.
With management often describing the transformation of Carilion from a traditional hospital system to a "physician-led" clinic, the course was the first step in creating those physician leaders, said Dr. Mark Greenawald, who is the medical director in Carilion's office of professional development.
"We can't say magically that we are physician-led and all of a sudden doctors are leading," Greenawald said. "We have to give them the tools to lead and teach them the necessary skills in a deliberate way."
Greenawald was one of two people to develop and lead the course. The other was Mary Elizabeth Vogel, who was killed in an apparent murder-suicide in January.
Besides forming business plans to improve operations at Carilion, the group was also asked to help facilitate conversations with other physicians during the transition to the clinic. During the final class, Dr. Mark Werner, Carilion's chief medical officer, talked openly with the group about the tensions and concerns surrounding the transition.
"We have an incredible challenge," he said.
Teaching physicians leadership skills is a key component to the transition, Werner said, not only in fiscal management, but also in communicating the Carilion vision to other staff.
For Murchison the course forced her to step out of her comfort zone focused on treating patients and put together a business plan. She equated the course to a mini-MBA program.
"The slippery slope of that is we're trained to be health care providers, and not necessarily trained to be business people," she said.
Instead of simply proving that her Hispanic OB clinic idea was the right thing for patients, Murchison had to develop the business plan to support the concept. And once she started looking at the costs, she quickly realized that her dream of having six certified medical interpreters wasn't going to pass the financial viability test. She settled for three interpreters.
Dr. Tony Stavola, who was also a course participant, said it is imperative that physicians learn not only to make decisions based on what is in best interest of patients but also be aware of the financial consequences of those decisions.
"The most expensive item in medicine is the doctor's pen," Stavola said. "We [physicians] have to understand the health care system is not meeting the needs of the patients, it is not providing adequate chronic disease management. We have an obligation to get out in front of this discussion and try and take a lead in it, because otherwise we will be in the position of answering to someone else's lead."
That's a point that Greenawald emphasized during the class.
"When physicians realize there is financial accountability and there is an economic consequence and that patient quality of care still matters, then they start to understand what the numbers mean," Greenawald said.
Like Murchison, Stavola also developed a plan to address a patient care issue.
A physician in the Carilion Medical Group primary care division, Stavola wanted to make sure asthma patients were getting proper follow-up and preventative care. He teamed up with another Carilion Clinic Family Medicine physician, Dr. Michael Jeremiah, to tackle the issue.
Using Carilion's new electronic medical record system, Stavola and Jeremiah set out to develop a disease registry for asthma patients.
Using the electronic medical record, Stavola said he can give patients more educational material during the visit by simply hitting print. Additionally, Stavola said the registry will help monitor other things such as medication compliance, emergency room visits and whether the patient got a flu shot.
Stavola projects the registry will reduce costs by 10 percent. He's only tracking Carilion employees because he was able to make an arrangement with the insurance provider to access the necessary information.
"If we can reduce costs by 10 percent, then conservatively we would probably generate $100,000 in savings," he said. "Even in a fairly small group of patients, I'm talking about 800 to 1,000 patients, that's significant."
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Latina actor helps cancer center
Eva Longoria Perks Up For PADRES
Buzznet.com
Eva Longoria accepts a $200,000 donation from AT&T on behalf of PADRES Contra El Cáncer on Saturday (February 28) in Burbank, Calif.
The 33-year-old Desperate Housewives actress is the national spokeswoman for PADRES, an organization to improve the quality of life for Latino children with cancer and their families. The donation to PADRES will support families coping with the devastating effects of childhood cancer.
“We are extremely grateful for AT&T’s generosity and commitment to PADRES and the Latino community,” said Eva. “The money raised will help us continue supporting families coping with the devastating effects of childhood cancer.”
For more info about PADRES, visit iamhope.org
Buzznet.com
Eva Longoria accepts a $200,000 donation from AT&T on behalf of PADRES Contra El Cáncer on Saturday (February 28) in Burbank, Calif.
The 33-year-old Desperate Housewives actress is the national spokeswoman for PADRES, an organization to improve the quality of life for Latino children with cancer and their families. The donation to PADRES will support families coping with the devastating effects of childhood cancer.
“We are extremely grateful for AT&T’s generosity and commitment to PADRES and the Latino community,” said Eva. “The money raised will help us continue supporting families coping with the devastating effects of childhood cancer.”
For more info about PADRES, visit iamhope.org
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Hispanic donors targeted by drive in Camden
Blood drive in Camden caters to Hispanic donors
By DEBORAH HIRSCH • Courier-Post Staff • February 27, 2009
Blood donors and their families crowded the lobby of a Hispanic Family Center of Southern New Jersey building Thursday morning, waiting for their turn to be called to the Red Cross bus parked outside.
Twenty-one people turned out for the nonprofit's first community blood drive.
Ivette Cruz, manager of the group's Family Success Center in East Camden, said she organized the event three weeks ago after hearing that the Red Cross was trying to make up for drives that had been canceled due to winter snowstorms.
Cruz said it's especially important to encourage Hispanics to give blood because they are more likely to have the "universal" Type O blood which is commonly used for trauma and transfusions.
The Penn-Jersey Region American Red Cross, which covers southeast Pennsylvania and all of New Jersey, also is interested in "diversifying" the blood supply "so that no matter what the person's background is, we have a healthy supply," said spokesman Anthony Tornetta. Sometimes the chance of a reaction can be reduced if a blood donor and recipient share the same racial or ethnic background, he said.
Two Hispanic Family Center employees -- outreach worker Zoraida Matos, 52, and mental health clinic office manager Liz Maldonado, 27 -- were among the first to board the bus.
Matos said she came because she heard that donations were down, and she remembered when her daughter needed four pints of blood while delivering premature twins.
Maldonado said she came because she was passionate about helping others.
"Especially in this time now with this economic crisis where I can't really donate money, this is something that I can donate," Maldonado said.
Maple Shade resident Sean Duggan, 29, was one of the few non-Hispanics at the drive. He's a regular, donating blood about six times a year, the most he could fit in with mandatory waiting periods. "I try my best," he said, smiling.
In the lobby, Edwin Figueroa, 32, waited for his name to be called. He said he donated blood once before about eight years ago in Puerto Rico for his wife's mother, who was having an operation for lung cancer.
"I know that one day I'll need it or one of my kids," he said.
The blood collected Thursday will be sent to the Red Cross office in Philadelphia for testing before being distributed to about 100 hospitals in the region. Tornetta said the organization needs to collect about 1,500 units of blood every day just to meet the basic needs of those hospitals.
Tornetta said the turnout was great for a first-time event. The Red Cross has held 334 mobile blood drives throughout the county in the past year, he said.
"Events for us are great to get in to the community and show the younger people that it's a clean, safe experience."
Reach Deborah Hirsch at (856) 486-2476 or dhirsch@camden.gannett.com
By DEBORAH HIRSCH • Courier-Post Staff • February 27, 2009
Blood donors and their families crowded the lobby of a Hispanic Family Center of Southern New Jersey building Thursday morning, waiting for their turn to be called to the Red Cross bus parked outside.
Twenty-one people turned out for the nonprofit's first community blood drive.
Ivette Cruz, manager of the group's Family Success Center in East Camden, said she organized the event three weeks ago after hearing that the Red Cross was trying to make up for drives that had been canceled due to winter snowstorms.
Cruz said it's especially important to encourage Hispanics to give blood because they are more likely to have the "universal" Type O blood which is commonly used for trauma and transfusions.
The Penn-Jersey Region American Red Cross, which covers southeast Pennsylvania and all of New Jersey, also is interested in "diversifying" the blood supply "so that no matter what the person's background is, we have a healthy supply," said spokesman Anthony Tornetta. Sometimes the chance of a reaction can be reduced if a blood donor and recipient share the same racial or ethnic background, he said.
Two Hispanic Family Center employees -- outreach worker Zoraida Matos, 52, and mental health clinic office manager Liz Maldonado, 27 -- were among the first to board the bus.
Matos said she came because she heard that donations were down, and she remembered when her daughter needed four pints of blood while delivering premature twins.
Maldonado said she came because she was passionate about helping others.
"Especially in this time now with this economic crisis where I can't really donate money, this is something that I can donate," Maldonado said.
Maple Shade resident Sean Duggan, 29, was one of the few non-Hispanics at the drive. He's a regular, donating blood about six times a year, the most he could fit in with mandatory waiting periods. "I try my best," he said, smiling.
In the lobby, Edwin Figueroa, 32, waited for his name to be called. He said he donated blood once before about eight years ago in Puerto Rico for his wife's mother, who was having an operation for lung cancer.
"I know that one day I'll need it or one of my kids," he said.
The blood collected Thursday will be sent to the Red Cross office in Philadelphia for testing before being distributed to about 100 hospitals in the region. Tornetta said the organization needs to collect about 1,500 units of blood every day just to meet the basic needs of those hospitals.
Tornetta said the turnout was great for a first-time event. The Red Cross has held 334 mobile blood drives throughout the county in the past year, he said.
"Events for us are great to get in to the community and show the younger people that it's a clean, safe experience."
Reach Deborah Hirsch at (856) 486-2476 or dhirsch@camden.gannett.com
Monday, February 16, 2009
Centro Latino launches health literacy program
New health literacy program begins at Centro Latino
BY Christine Martinez February 15, 2009
COLUMBIA — Health literacy means knowing where to find medical help and how to get it: problems for many in the growing Spanish speaking population in mid-Missouri.
Now, thanks to a two-year grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health and a collaboration with the MU campus-based Cambio Center, Centro Latino will be providing a new health literacy program, "Promotores de Salud" (Health Promoters) for the Latino community in mid-Missouri.
If you go
What: A meet-and-greet with health promoters, Sandra Zapata and Karina Campos.
When: 5:30 p.m. Friday
Where: Centro Latino, 206 Austin Ave., Suite G.
Refreshments and child care will be provided.
The aims of Promotores is to address health issues important to the Latino population through prevention education and community outreach and to serve as a bridge between the public and health care resources.
"We see the Promotores as being, kind of serving as guides in this (health care) process," said Stephen Jeanetta, part of the executive committee at the Cambio Center. Jeanetta added that he hopes the program will "help develop the capacity of the community to understand and access health care."
Eduardo Crespi, director of Centro Latino, hopes that Promotores will lead visitors to take advantage of the variety of health resources that exist in the community, such as the Family Health Center.
The program is intended to serve a "growing, low-income, rural and low health literate population," said Thomas Adams, lead program officer on the health literacy initiative for the Missouri Foundation of Health. The foundation considered Promotores an opportunity to branch out to other groups in the state, namely Latinos in non-urban areas.
"We already have several programs with Latino components, but Promotores is all about that," he said.
The foundation became especially interested in the program for its potential to meet community needs by tailoring services and materials to specific local needs.
Sandra Zapata, one of the new "promotoras" (health promoters), said one of the greatest issues confronting the Latino population in mid-Missouri is the unawareness of what the community has to offer.
"There are quite a few health care needs," Jeannetta said. "They don't understand as newcomers how the health care system works."
Two part-time staff, a health coordinator, and several volunteers have been recruited for the program and will be available during the week to assist Center visitors.
Community outreach will also be a large part of their work. There is a monthly event planned at the Centro to address specific health issues such as diabetes, HIV and obesity.
Public health and social service have always been a large part of the Centro's service to the community. Over the past decade, it has helped visitors with the many procedures that can make health care complicated for those who struggle with English or are new to the area: the filling out of medical forms, the translation of documents, the procuring of care for those without insurance or documentation.
"I just want the people to feel comfortable and supported and not alone. Many times when one arrives here they feel very alone," said Zapata, who has already begun her work with Promotores.
With the new program, Crespi expects its public health and social service efforts to be even more organized than before. He also hopes that the program will encourage more people to take advantage of the number of resources provided by the Centro (ESL classes, Spanish courses and an after-school youth program).
The program evaluation will be led by the Cambio Center, Centro's partner in the project that wrote the grant and collaborated in the planning of the program.
Evaluation will attempt to address several questions: whether the community members feel they can better access resources, what quality of relationships are established between the Promotoras and local health care entities, the success of educational initiatives, and whether broader integration of the community has been improved.
"We are very much looking forward to seeing the results that they (Promotores) have," Adams said. He hopes it will be a "shining example of health literacy development" and may provide "great lessons learned in how we move forward in health literacy programming."
BY Christine Martinez February 15, 2009
COLUMBIA — Health literacy means knowing where to find medical help and how to get it: problems for many in the growing Spanish speaking population in mid-Missouri.
Now, thanks to a two-year grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health and a collaboration with the MU campus-based Cambio Center, Centro Latino will be providing a new health literacy program, "Promotores de Salud" (Health Promoters) for the Latino community in mid-Missouri.
If you go
What: A meet-and-greet with health promoters, Sandra Zapata and Karina Campos.
When: 5:30 p.m. Friday
Where: Centro Latino, 206 Austin Ave., Suite G.
Refreshments and child care will be provided.
The aims of Promotores is to address health issues important to the Latino population through prevention education and community outreach and to serve as a bridge between the public and health care resources.
"We see the Promotores as being, kind of serving as guides in this (health care) process," said Stephen Jeanetta, part of the executive committee at the Cambio Center. Jeanetta added that he hopes the program will "help develop the capacity of the community to understand and access health care."
Eduardo Crespi, director of Centro Latino, hopes that Promotores will lead visitors to take advantage of the variety of health resources that exist in the community, such as the Family Health Center.
The program is intended to serve a "growing, low-income, rural and low health literate population," said Thomas Adams, lead program officer on the health literacy initiative for the Missouri Foundation of Health. The foundation considered Promotores an opportunity to branch out to other groups in the state, namely Latinos in non-urban areas.
"We already have several programs with Latino components, but Promotores is all about that," he said.
The foundation became especially interested in the program for its potential to meet community needs by tailoring services and materials to specific local needs.
Sandra Zapata, one of the new "promotoras" (health promoters), said one of the greatest issues confronting the Latino population in mid-Missouri is the unawareness of what the community has to offer.
"There are quite a few health care needs," Jeannetta said. "They don't understand as newcomers how the health care system works."
Two part-time staff, a health coordinator, and several volunteers have been recruited for the program and will be available during the week to assist Center visitors.
Community outreach will also be a large part of their work. There is a monthly event planned at the Centro to address specific health issues such as diabetes, HIV and obesity.
Public health and social service have always been a large part of the Centro's service to the community. Over the past decade, it has helped visitors with the many procedures that can make health care complicated for those who struggle with English or are new to the area: the filling out of medical forms, the translation of documents, the procuring of care for those without insurance or documentation.
"I just want the people to feel comfortable and supported and not alone. Many times when one arrives here they feel very alone," said Zapata, who has already begun her work with Promotores.
With the new program, Crespi expects its public health and social service efforts to be even more organized than before. He also hopes that the program will encourage more people to take advantage of the number of resources provided by the Centro (ESL classes, Spanish courses and an after-school youth program).
The program evaluation will be led by the Cambio Center, Centro's partner in the project that wrote the grant and collaborated in the planning of the program.
Evaluation will attempt to address several questions: whether the community members feel they can better access resources, what quality of relationships are established between the Promotoras and local health care entities, the success of educational initiatives, and whether broader integration of the community has been improved.
"We are very much looking forward to seeing the results that they (Promotores) have," Adams said. He hopes it will be a "shining example of health literacy development" and may provide "great lessons learned in how we move forward in health literacy programming."
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Hispanics targeted for oral cancer screening
Oral cancer screening reaches Hispanic community
By LOIS BAKER January 16, 2009
“Boca Sana Cuerpo Sano,” said the flyer posted in the Judge J. Mattina Community Health Center on Buffalo’s largely Hispanic Lower West Side: “Healthy Mouth Healthy Body.”
It alerted the community to the upcoming free oral-cancer screening at the clinic conducted by faculty, dental residents and students from the UB School of Dental Medicine.
More than 100 people from the surrounding neighborhood showed up during the two-day event to have their teeth checked for cavities and their mouths for gum disease and signs of oral cancer. Some were regular patients at the health center; some were not, but they came anyway and brought family members. Five patients were found to have suspicious lesions.
“We were bombarded,” says Yoly Gonzalez, the event’s founder. “People wanted to be screened. They brought their relatives. They didn’t come for the free toothbrush and toothpaste.”
This was the screening’s fifth year—and the most well-attended yet—but it wasn’t always so successful. Gonzalez, UB clinical assistant professor of oral diagnostic sciences, and a cadre of students, residents and faculty members had to do a bit of cajoling to get the project started.
A native of Venezuela, Gonzalez earned a dental degree from the Universidad Central de Venezuela in Caracas, where the fifth year of study was devoted to community service. She spent six months working with the Guajiros and Piaroas Indians in the Venezuelan jungle. But when Gonzalez joined the UB dental school faculty, she found a void.
“In Venezuela, we were always linked to the community. Here, we didn’t have a connection,” she says.
The West Side health center, established by Kaleida Health to serve the Hispanic community, was the logical place to create such a connection, so Gonzalez paid a visit and brought along a few students.
Energized by the experience, the students formed a chapter of the Hispanic Dental Association. Wanting to do something other than sponsor parties, the members decided to conduct a yearly free oral-cancer screening at the clinic.
That first year, Gonzalez and a small UB team, with the support of Rene Perez-Bode, the clinic’s full-time dentist, set up tables in the clinic lobby stocked with information on dental health and oral cancer.
“It was a very slow beginning,” Gonzalez recalls. “Many people didn’t even know there was such a thing as oral cancer. They’d say, ‘You can get cancer in your mouth?’”
Volunteers took a brief medical history of those initial patients to make sure they weren’t afraid of dentists or allergic to the latex gloves worn by examiners. If something suspicious was detected by an examiner, Gonzalez made an appointment for the patient at the UB dental school clinic.
The following year, the volunteers added a table on smoking cessation. With funds from a New York State Quit Line grant, they gave away toothbrushes, toothpaste, apples and bottled water. The names of smokers who were ready to quit were passed along to the Quit Line, which provided two weeks of nicotine-replacement patches and continued encouragement.
Attendance at the yearly event increased gradually. “It’s been an effort from the heart,” Gonzalez says. “It grew little by little.”
This year, a team of 10 students, faculty and staff screened more than 50 patients a day over the two-day event. Heidi Crow, associate professor of oral diagnostic sciences, had joined the group and there now were three dental chairs at the clinic—two for routine screenings and a third for patients whose teeth needed immediate attention.
The team’s next step is to raise money for patients who fall into the gap—those who can’t afford dental insurance but aren’t eligible for Medicare. Team members also would like to conduct screenings twice a year to reach more people.
A visit to the most recent screening by Mark King, president of the American Cancer Society’s regional board of advisors, may help that effort. Impressed by the event, King wants to take the UB model for oral-cancer screening to other communities and raise funds to support those efforts.
“Our main objective is to provide a service to our local community,” Gonzalez stresses. “It’s wonderful to help people anywhere, but we have needs right here.”
By LOIS BAKER January 16, 2009
“Boca Sana Cuerpo Sano,” said the flyer posted in the Judge J. Mattina Community Health Center on Buffalo’s largely Hispanic Lower West Side: “Healthy Mouth Healthy Body.”
It alerted the community to the upcoming free oral-cancer screening at the clinic conducted by faculty, dental residents and students from the UB School of Dental Medicine.
More than 100 people from the surrounding neighborhood showed up during the two-day event to have their teeth checked for cavities and their mouths for gum disease and signs of oral cancer. Some were regular patients at the health center; some were not, but they came anyway and brought family members. Five patients were found to have suspicious lesions.
“We were bombarded,” says Yoly Gonzalez, the event’s founder. “People wanted to be screened. They brought their relatives. They didn’t come for the free toothbrush and toothpaste.”
This was the screening’s fifth year—and the most well-attended yet—but it wasn’t always so successful. Gonzalez, UB clinical assistant professor of oral diagnostic sciences, and a cadre of students, residents and faculty members had to do a bit of cajoling to get the project started.
A native of Venezuela, Gonzalez earned a dental degree from the Universidad Central de Venezuela in Caracas, where the fifth year of study was devoted to community service. She spent six months working with the Guajiros and Piaroas Indians in the Venezuelan jungle. But when Gonzalez joined the UB dental school faculty, she found a void.
“In Venezuela, we were always linked to the community. Here, we didn’t have a connection,” she says.
The West Side health center, established by Kaleida Health to serve the Hispanic community, was the logical place to create such a connection, so Gonzalez paid a visit and brought along a few students.
Energized by the experience, the students formed a chapter of the Hispanic Dental Association. Wanting to do something other than sponsor parties, the members decided to conduct a yearly free oral-cancer screening at the clinic.
That first year, Gonzalez and a small UB team, with the support of Rene Perez-Bode, the clinic’s full-time dentist, set up tables in the clinic lobby stocked with information on dental health and oral cancer.
“It was a very slow beginning,” Gonzalez recalls. “Many people didn’t even know there was such a thing as oral cancer. They’d say, ‘You can get cancer in your mouth?’”
Volunteers took a brief medical history of those initial patients to make sure they weren’t afraid of dentists or allergic to the latex gloves worn by examiners. If something suspicious was detected by an examiner, Gonzalez made an appointment for the patient at the UB dental school clinic.
The following year, the volunteers added a table on smoking cessation. With funds from a New York State Quit Line grant, they gave away toothbrushes, toothpaste, apples and bottled water. The names of smokers who were ready to quit were passed along to the Quit Line, which provided two weeks of nicotine-replacement patches and continued encouragement.
Attendance at the yearly event increased gradually. “It’s been an effort from the heart,” Gonzalez says. “It grew little by little.”
This year, a team of 10 students, faculty and staff screened more than 50 patients a day over the two-day event. Heidi Crow, associate professor of oral diagnostic sciences, had joined the group and there now were three dental chairs at the clinic—two for routine screenings and a third for patients whose teeth needed immediate attention.
The team’s next step is to raise money for patients who fall into the gap—those who can’t afford dental insurance but aren’t eligible for Medicare. Team members also would like to conduct screenings twice a year to reach more people.
A visit to the most recent screening by Mark King, president of the American Cancer Society’s regional board of advisors, may help that effort. Impressed by the event, King wants to take the UB model for oral-cancer screening to other communities and raise funds to support those efforts.
“Our main objective is to provide a service to our local community,” Gonzalez stresses. “It’s wonderful to help people anywhere, but we have needs right here.”
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