NACHC Washington Update

The Community Health Institute To Kick Off in Dallas

Hold on to your cowboy hats. Nearly 2000 Community, Migrant and Homeless Health Center representatives descend on to Dallas, TX this week for the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) 38th Annual Convention and Community Health Institute (CHI) & EXPO. The NACHC CHI will focus on a host of pressing health care policy issues-- including health care reform, Medicaid, health disparities among the poor, workforce training and recruitment—and clinical and management training for health center professionals. Other features of the CHI include special guest Ben Stein, actor, author, and TV commentator Ben Stein who will keynote a general session on Sunday, Aug 26 at 3 pm. Check out the press release here.

Report Finds Health Centers are a Bright Spot

Community Health Centers are a bright spot in the public health debate, providing high-quality care while controlling costs and pumping money and jobs into the national economy. Just in time for National Health Center Week this new study entitled, Access Granted: The Primary Care Payoff, found that health centers not only provide care to 16 million Americans, but do so while saving money in health care costs and generating substantial economic benefit in some of the neediest communities. It was issued this week by the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC), The Robert Graham Center for Policy Studies in Family Medicine and Primary Care and Capital Link. The findings are creating a buzz not only in the press, but at the some 400 NHCW events scheduled around the country. Read more here. The findings of the NACHC report are no surprise to Joe Dawsey, who runs Coastal Family Health Center in Biloxi, Ms. Dawsey told a local reporter that health centers deliver on cost-savings. " It's a good investment," Dawsey said. "We can provide care at lower cost than a patient can get going to the emergency room." Check out the article here. Here's another article from North Carolina, where Greene County Community Health Center, nestled in the rural agricultural hamlet of Snow Hill, celebrated 35 years of creating jobs and keeping down health care costs. And the news reached all the way north to Battle Creek Enquirer in Michigan.
"Perhaps it is time to look in our own backyards and recognize that we already have a way of providing excellent, high-quality health care while keeping costs down, " writes Elizabeth in an op-ed on the ACCESS GRANTED findings in the New York newspaper, the Press Republican. You can also look view the press coverage of National Health Center Week here.

Reaching Out To Farmworkers

Mobility is a way of life for seasonal and migrant farmworkers, as is exposure to occupational hazards and countless health risks. Staying healthy is often difficult for this vulnerable population that is characteristically low-income and underinsured or uninsured.

A seasonal farmworker primarily works in agriculture during the growing season. A migrant farmworker also works in agriculture on a seasonal basis but moves around to do so.

To help seasonal and migrant farmworkers access the health care they need and to overcome language, transportation, cost, and scheduling barriers, several Michigan Community Health Centers offer medical and dental care tailored specifically for this population. That entails physicians providing culturally appropriate medical care in the communities in which the patients work.

“Part of our mission is to serve farmworkers and their families because we believe all people have the right to equal access to quality health care,” said Velma Hendershott, President and Chief Executive Officer of InterCare Community Health Network.

InterCare Community Health Network has been providing quality health care for seasonal and migrant farmworkers in the heart of west and southwest Michigan’s fruit and vegetable belt for over 30 years. Approximately 425 migrant camps are located in this Community Health Center’s service area, which includes Berrien, Van Buren, Cass, Allegan, Ottawa, and Kent Counties. Berrien and Van Buren Counties rank first and second in the state of Michigan’s seasonal census of agricultural workers.

Across the state in Monroe and Lenawee Counties, Family Medical Center of Michigan is the primary health care provider for seasonal and migrant farmworkers in the southeast corner of Michigan. Since 2000, the number of seasonal and migrant patients of this Community Health Center have increased by 34% and 22% respectively.

“Reaching seasonal and migrant farmworkers is a challenge since they are usually a moving target,” said Judith Williams, MPH, MSW, CSW, Executive Director of Northwest Michigan Health Services, Inc.

This Northern Michigan Community Health Center recently initiated a multi-disciplinary learning program for consumer outreach. “Project Puente”, or the “Bridge Project”, gives college-level interns training and experience in working with seasonal and migrant farmworkers. They provide lay health education, conduct active research, and interview patients to maximize limited resources and enrich patient encounters.

Like its counterparts, Heath Delivery, Inc. of Saginaw stretches its tentacles across multiple counties and thousands of square miles to reach seasonal and migrant farmworkers. It operates a comprehensive migrant health program in Manchester, Imlay City, Belding, and Caro.

Health Delivery, Inc. provides health care that is sensitive to the needs of the community by being close to where the patients live, at times that are convenient, and speaking in a language that patients can understand.

For more information about Michigan’s Community Health Centers, visit the Michigan Primary Care Association’s web site at www.mpca.net. Michigan Primary Care Association is the nonprofit membership organization representing providers of community-based primary care in Michigan. Its mission is to promote, support and develop comprehensive, accessible and affordable quality primary health care services to everyone in Michigan.

###

Fighting Cervical Cancer

The National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) has joined the Partnership to End Cervical Cancer. For the first time in history, we have the potential to significantly reduce the incidence of a female cancer – cervical cancer – through the addition of vaccination to existing screening programs. This opportunity is a bold step forward in women’s health and highlights the need for the public health community to work together to ensure access to these vaccines for women in the United States. Significant barriers must be addressed to ensure that adult women who may benefit from cervical cancer vaccination and screening have access to them. Health centers have played a key role in providing affordable early screenings to low-income women at risk for cervical cancer. Just over 1.4 women received pap smears at health centers in last year.

Consequently, the Partnership to End Cervical Cancer – a unique collaboration of more than 20 leading consumer, professional and policy organizations, public health groups, foundations and healthcare professionals – has formed to create a new standard of preventive healthcare for women that includes screening and vaccination to prevent cervical cancer. The mission of the Partnership is: To ensure the immediate inclusion of vaccines to prevent cervical cancer as part of routine preventive healthcare for all women in the United States. NACHC is hoping to increase coverage for health center patients who are not covered by child immunizations programs, Medicaid, or other forms of health insurance.

For more information, please read about cervical cancer and the new vaccination to prevent cervical cancer visit the website here. For more information on this partnership and/or other partnerships within NACHC please contact Jason Patnosh (jpatnosh@nachc.com), Director of Partnership Development at NACHC.

In Colorado, Expanding to Meet the Growing Need

<a href="www.peakvista.org">Peak Vista Community Health Centers in Colorado Springs recently purchased a building in close proximity to Peak Vista’s existing main campus to further meet growth demands, community need, and to serve more patients. Established in 1971, Peak Vista annually offers primary medical care and dental services to close to 50,000 residents of the Pikes Peak region, most of which are from working families. But demand for affordable primary health care services continues to grow. The 33,414 square foot facility will be renovated during the second half of 2007. The new site has the potential to increase patient care by approximately 30 exam rooms plus staff work areas.

“The highly visible location of this new site is ideal for easy patient access. The additional space will allow Peak Vista to expand its services to more people in the Pikes Peak Region who face access barriers…including the uninsured,” according to BJ Scott, President and CEO of Peak Vista. “We are pleased that we have the ability to announce the Union facility purchase plus other major expansions that have come together during 2006, our 35th anniversary year of providing exceptional healthcare to working families of the Pikes Peak Region. These expansions have been made possible as a result of valued partnerships and relationships with other community organizations, as well as a successful and aggressive grant strategy and Amendment 35 tobacco tax disbursements.”

The purchase of the 225 South Union facility is just one piece of Peak Vista’s strategic plan to expand its infrastructure to support the hiring of more medical and dental providers and other support staff to serve more patients. In addition to this facility purchase, Peak Vista is proud to announce it has implemented electronic health records in all its medical clinic sites and is planning a major renovation of its Family Health Clinic at 2828 International Circle during 2008.

Other expansion plans completed or underway to further serve more working families in the Pikes Peak Region include: a new and improved site for the Health Center located in the city of Divide that opened summer 2006 with integrated dental and medical services; the Fountain Health Center that opened in January 2006 with integrated primary medical, dental and behavior healthcare; and the ongoing recruitment of several new providers to serve more patients.

Peak Vista is also in the process of establishing a new Health Clinic location in a 6,000 square foot space located on the Myron Stratton Campus in the Springs. The Myron Stratton Home was founded in 1913 by Winfield Scott Stratton with a vision to care for the region’s poor, elderly and children. Peak Vista, along with two other broad-based local agencies, will relocate or create a new service location on the Myron Stratton Home Campus in mid-2007.

Saving Taxpayer Dollars

Yet another study is out showing the cost-savings of Communty Health Centers. A report by the Institute for Health Care Studies at Michigan State University reveals that health centers save the state $44.87 per member per month in State Medicaid expenditures. That is a savings of $538.44 per year for each Medicaid beneficiary. The studyused Medicaid claims data for the calendar years 2003 and 2004 to compare the total costs of services provided to two categories of Medicaid beneficiaries—FQHC (Federally Qualified Health Center) patients and non-FQHC patients. You can read the full study here.

What is the NACHC blog?

Welcome to the NACHC Washington Update. We are an on line newsletter for and about America's Health Centers, produced by the Communications Department of the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC). with the aim of spreading the good news about the mission and accomplishments America's Health Centers. What are America's Health Centers? That's a good question. Let's first begin with what they are not. They are not hospitals or free clinics, but a very crucial part of what's known as the nation's safety net. They are the health care home to 16 million people living in rural and urban areas around the country. Many health center patients lack health insurance or other care (fact sheet). But the important point is that health centers never turn anyone away regardless of their ability to pay or insurance status. You pay what you can for the health care you need. There is a lot of information about Community Health Centers and their success-- from independent studies to testimonials from the President of the United States, to bipartisan Members of Congress. But for those of you who aren't in the know, here's a quick primer: Health center started over forty years ago as part of President Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty (read more about the history of health centers). The aim then, as it remains now, is to break the cycle of sickness and poverty by putting doctors in federally designated medically underserved areas. Now that effort has taken off, and health centers have earned top ratings from independent studies, and the White House Office of Management and Budget for their effectiveness in fighting and preventing disease and keeping down health care costs. Health centers are federally-funded and authorized by the U.S. Congress (but they also leverage state, local, and private funding, as well as public insurance programs, such as Medicaid, for their operating costs). There's a good chance you can find a health center in or near your community. But the basic fact is there there are not enough health centers for the people who need them. Some 35 million people are without basic health care in America. We hope to change that by growing more health centers and expanding their reach. Now.. back to the NACHC Washington Update. We want to keep the curious informed about the goings on in health policy in Washington (no, it's exciting stuff, really). Legislation, funding, policy-making, and the inner workings of the Congress, the White House, and federal agencies will impact you: the health care consumer. But there's more to the world of community health than Washington. You can read about the goings on with health centers and their state organizations from around the country-- press releases, news events, health fairs, etc. It's all here. In rural byways and in urban neighborhoods, health centers are saving people's lives and keeping communities disease-free with innovative ideas and a community-based approach. There's no one-size fits all approach to medicine at a health center. TypePad © 2003-2006 Six Apart, Ltd. All Rights Reserved. | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy