NACHC Washington Update

Health Care After Katrina

Two years after Katrina struck, health care is still trying to recover in the Gulf Region. News headlines report that there’s shortage of health care providers in New Orleans with four hospitals that remain closed after the storm, and an overall shortage of primary care physicians. National Public Radio reported on the mental health care system in New Orleans. The number of adult psychiatric beds has dropped from 240 prior to Katrina to 30 currently in Orleans Parish, which has a population of about 300,000. According to NPR, the "crisis ... is so intense that even mentally ill patients who were a threat to themselves or others are often turned away" from hospitals. But there is good news. In Biloxi, MS Coastal Family Health Center is springing back full force. Katrina destroyed two of Coastal’s seven permanent and school-based locations, its entire IT and billing system, two mobile healthcare units, and significantly damaged the buildings and/or destroyed the contents of almost all other locations. It also initially displaced sixty of Coastal’s 175-strong staff. Now Coastal will open three new permanent sites this fall, and recently recieved some much needed support from the Fed with a $1,393,902 grant from the Health Services and Resources Administration (HRSA) for electronic health record implementation. You can read all about Coastal Download coastal_family_health_center_2_year_anniversary.pdf

Community Health Takes Root in Arizona

Healers take your mark. In Arizona, the first group of students at A.T. Still University are beginning their journey into community health care. More than 100 medical students at the new School of Osteopathic Medicine in Mesa, Arizona are beginning their fall classes. Check out the news article in AZ Central.

Fixing America's Primary Doc Shortage

The shortage of primary health care doctors is happening everywhere but out west an exciting solution is taking off. AT Still University's first class of osteopaths hit the books this fall. Community Health Centers will be an important part of their education. In a unique partnership, select health centers will host the medical students to give them a firsthand experience in underserved communities. Here's a recent news report about one of those health centers; Family Health Care Network-- based out of Visalia, CA, will start hosting the medical students from Arizona. Family healthcare network was the only group selected in California for the partnership.

Short of Doctors

The Wall Street Journal takes a close look at physician shortages in rural areas, noting that the problem is getting worse because of "an unusual tale of two visa programs." The J-1 visa waiver program since 1994 has allowed foreign physicians to become eligible for green cards, so long as they agree to work for three years in medically underserved areas. The program "has provided more than 1,000 doctors annually to underserved areas, outperforming scholarship and loan programs designed to attract young U.S. doctors to these same places," the Journal reports. Health centers like Yakima Neighborhood Health Services, which is featured in the WSJ story, rely on the J-1 visa program for their work force. But because of an expansion of the H1-B visa waiver program enacted in 2000 to provide U.S. companies with more foreign high-tech workers, hundreds of foreign physicians "are bypassing the J-1" and "are securing an H1-B, which doesn't require the rural stint," says WSJ. Now the number of foreign physicians with J-1 visas has dropped from 11,000 in 1995-1996 to 6,000 in 2005-2006. You can read the full story here. Download wall_street_journal_article_yakima_doctors.pdf

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Primary Health Care

Health care work force growth strategies were recently featured at a Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C. Dan Hawkins, Vice President for Policy at the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) participated in a panel discussion about the challenges facing the health care work force on at the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC). The panel discussion was part of the Health Professions Diversity Leadership Summit, sponsored by the National Council of Centers of Excellence (NCCOE). The panel discussion comes amid rising concerns about the nation’s primary care work force, with a projected steep decline in the number of primary care physicians, and significant clinical vacancies reported at Community Health Centers around the country. Also participating in the panel discussion were representatives from the American Medical Student Association and the National Hispanic Medical Association. You can view Dan's speech here.