NACHC Washington Update

Preventing Deadly Bacteria Outbreaks in Brooklyn

Antibiotic resistant staph infections (also called MRSA or Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus) are causing worry among health officials nationwide. According to news reports, MRSA last year killed more people in the U.S. than AIDS. A Brooklyn, NY, Community Health Center is joining forces with businesses and elected officials to fight back against this deadly bacteria through a new initiative that will protect school children. Lutheran Family Health Centers helped launch a mass distribution of alcohol-based hand sanitizers, and materials on handwashing tips in several languages, including Chinese, Russian, Arabic and Urdu. The initiative is part of a cooperative between local elected leaders and companies like Forest City Ratner Companies and the the future Brooklyn Nets.

In this photo you can see Norma Villanueva, M.D., chief of pediatric and adolescent health for Lutheran Family Health Centers, showing students at P.S. 101 how to wash their hands an prevent MRSA.

Health Care in Southern Cal's Disaster Zone

Firefighters continue efforts to put out the massive wildfires in southern California. The wildfires have destroyed nearly 1,500 buildings and forced more than half a million people to flee their homes, according to news reports. Public health remains a big concern during disasters like this. Not only are there respiratory risks associated with breathing in smoke and ash, but the mass evacuations of people from the affected areas, and closures of hospitals and long-term care facilities in the disaster zones can diminish health care options for the chronically ill and vulnerable populations who are often the most directly impacted by disasters. The National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) is coordinating with relief organizations and the health center community to direct resources and help for health centers and their patients and staff in the wildfire disaster zone. So far federally-supported Community Health Centers located in the seven counties declared federal disaster areas remain undamaged by the blaze; some have closed due to the mandatory evacuations or are operating with a skeletal staff. Click here to read more.
other useful links:
California Primary Care Association
Direct Relief International
Operation USA

Odds and Ends in the World of Community Health

Amazing what one can find out about the exciting developments in community health just by picking up a local news letter. Here's what we found out in the recent newsletter dispatched by the Kansas Association for the Medically Underserved (KAMU): grants cobbled together from the state and foundations will expand oral health services for Kansas residents through eight safety net clinics. The "dental hub" program in Kanas aims to break down the geographic and financial barriers many people face in getting access to preventive dental care, which is part of good health. You can read more about effort here:Download kansas.pdf

And speaking of good health care, you need look no further than the Triangle area of North Carolina to find it. Piedmont Health Services Inc., which operates the Carrboro Community Health Center in Chapel Hill, NC, has received the Gold Seal of Approval from the nation's largest health care accrediting organization. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations accredited the organization based on its compliance with national standards for health care quality and safety. Check out the news story here.

Beating the Odds Against Breast Cancer

Breast cancer doesn't discriminate when it comes to race, poverty, or insurance status. Low-income, uninsured women face a host of obstacles when it comes to following through with the early detection and screening guidelines that are key to survival. In Bridgeport, Connecticut, Southwest Community Health Center is trying to bridge that economic divide between the haves and have-nots in the war on breast cancer, the leading cause of death for women in America. The health center will offer FREE breast cancer exams on October 9th. Check out the press release Download press_release_breast_examinations_2007__2_.pdf

Dr. Raul Perez at Southwest Community Health Center in Bridgeport, Ct., and patient

Colorado Community Health Centers Fighting Breast Cancer. Find out more here:Download coloradobreastcancer.pdf

Support for Health Centers in Virginia

Every once in a while a Member of Congress steps boldly forward and shows he's doing his homework. Our nod goes to newly minted U.S. Sen. James Webb, who recently issued a press release that smartly shows where he thinks his state and the nation should be investing their dollars when it comes to health care. Webb announced his support for bipartisan legislation that reauthorizes the federal health centers program (S.901), noting, “Located predominately in inner-city and rural communities where health care is scarce, Health Centers provide quality services to over 200,000 Virginians annually who would not otherwise have the means to see a primary care doctor." The bill is gaining momentum in the Senate, with almost 70 co-sponsors so far.
Check out the full press release here.

Where We Live Can Impact Our Health

Where you live may help determine how long you live, according to a new report. The Commonwealth Fund has ranked states according to measures of cost, insurance coverage and medical quality. No single state performed well across all categories, but some states far surpassed others. States in the Northeast and Upper Midwest often rank high in multiple areas, but the big winner was Hawaii, which ranked number one. At the bottom of the rankings was Mississippi (states with the lowest rankings tend to be concentrated in the South). The report estimates that if all states could do as well as the top states, 90,000 lives could be saved annually, 22 million additional adults and children would have health insurance and millions of older adults, diabetics and young children would have access to life-saving essential preventive care (like what you would find at a health center). You can read an article about the report here.

Ending Cervical Cancer

The expertise of a health center doctor has been enlisted for the war against cervical cancer. Dr. Judith Steinberg, assistant clinical professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine, attending physician in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Boston Medical Center and most of all Medical Director of Neponset Health Center in Boston has been invited to serve on an expert panel reviewing a gap analysis of health insurance coverage for cervical cancer as part of the Partnership to End Cervical Cancer (www.nocervicalcancer.org). Dr. Steinberg has also served as the HIV Program Director at East Boston Neighborhood Health Center and serves on the Board of Directors at the National Association of Community Health Centers' Clinical Practice committee.

Fighting Aids in Mississippi

The local paper in Mississippi is helping to spread the word about HIV testing being offered at select local health centers, free of charge. The the Byhalia Family Health Center and Mt. Pleasant Family Health Clinic of Northeast Mississippi Health Care, Inc. are now offering all patients aged 13 to 64 the opportunity to be tested for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. This is part of pilot program the National Association of Community Health Centers, Inc. (NACHC) helped jumpstart. NACHC initiated the pilot in response to the most recent recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) calling for routine voluntary HIV testing of patients in all health care settings. You can read more here.

Law of Unintended Consequences

As many as 319,500 eligible Medicaid beneficiaries who receive care at America's Health Centers could lose coverage because of federal rules requiring that beneficiaries and applicants provide documentation proving their U.S. citizenship. This is according to a study recently released by the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Service. The Deficit Reduction Act of 2006 includes a provision that most people who seek Medicaid enrollment must provide "satisfactory documentary evidence of citizenship."
The researchers also said that the percentage of beneficiaries who lost coverage did not take into account the number of newborn children or new applicants affected by the law. You can watch a web cast of the event or check out the press release here. Read a Denver Post article about the GW study here.

On The Right Track in Ohio

The Buckeye state is on the right track with health care. A state rep has introduced a bill that aims to remove health care barriers Ohioans who continue to use the emergency room as the primary source of health care. State Representative Ross McGregor (R-Springfield) has introduced a bipartisan bill that aims to build more health centers to curb the problem of overtaxed ERs and boost primary care in the state. Shawn Frick, Executive Director of the Ohio Association of Community Health Centers, praised the bill, saying, “This legislation will not only strengthen Ohio’s Community Health Centers, but it will also benefit all Ohioans by generating significant returns on investment while improving community health.. We applaud Representative Ross McGregor for introducing HB 164, recognizing that Community Health Centers are the single largest service provider component of Ohio’s primary care safety net system and the health care solution for over 340,000 Ohioans.” You can read more about what the bill does here: Download mcgregor_pr_2.pdf