NACHC Washington Update

Good Community Health Care in Seattle

You can always find a good "cuppa joe" in Seattle, but bet you didn't know you can also find good health care. Our kudos go to Seattle-based International Community Health Services, a health center that provides such great care, it drew notice from Premera Blue Cross. The health care plan recently awarded the health center a Health Care Quality Leadership Award, and a check for $15,000. You can check out the press release Download ichs_press_release__quality_award_.pdf

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Good Taste for a Good Cause in Boston

Men putting on aprons is always a good thing, but Codman Square Health Center and Dorchester House Multi-Service Center took matters a step further when they launched a Men of Boston Cook event to raise money for women's health services. Over 1000 people attended the event, held under a tent at the Codman Square Health Center, and were served by Boston luminaries such as Governor Deval Patrick, Mayor Tom Menino, Citizens Bank Chairman Larry Fish, former Gov. Mike Dukakis, Speaker of the House Sal DiMasi, author Dennis Lehane (Mystic River), and other media, corporate and political personalities. The event raised a whopping $250,000 for women's health services.

Former Speaker of the Massachusetts House Tom Finneran, Current Speaker Sal DiMasi and University of Massachusetts Chancellor Keith Motley, are featured in the photo looking smart in their aprons.

A Boost for the Uninsured and Underserved

$61 million in new Community Health Center Grants to help half a million Americans-- many with no health insurance-- have been unveiled. Health Resources and Services Administration head Elizabeth Duke made the announcement at the annual convention of the National Association of Community Health Centers in Dallas, TX. Right now 56 million Americans have no access to basic health care services, even if some do have health insurance. Check out the HRSA press release here., and here are some local newspaper articles about the grants in Kansas, Tennessee, and Oklahoma., Arkansas,, North Carolina,, Virginia,Washington State, Texas Kentucky, Louisiana.

Cool Tools for Fighting HIV/AIDS

Now available: Treating Adolescents with HIV: Tools for Building Skills in Cultural Competence, Clinical Care and Support - an interactive online training series where health care providers who work with HIV-infected adolescents can learn more about culturally competent approaches for clinical care and support.
The training is free, and continuing education credits are offered to participants. For more information and to register, visit www.hivcareforyouth.com

Delaware Gets Dollars to Expand Care

Westside Health Inc. in Wilmington, Del. has received $549,517 in federal funds to expand its reach to the state's medically disenfranchised. The big check from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Service will be used to provide life-saving primary health care services to more people in the Wilmington area. Already Westside serves about 16,000 men, women and children. But thanks to the new funds, the health center they can reach an additional 3,000 patients at their Northeast Health Center-- a new facility in Wilmington, where the statistics for infant mortality, HIV/AIDS, and diabetes are among the worst in the state. U.S. Rep. Mike Castle (R-DE) visited the health center to hand over the check earlier this week.

"Because of the work of Westside Health and other Community Health Centers throughout the state and the country, I have continually fought for adequate funding each year for these entities because I believe they are a great asset to healthcare coverage in the United States," said Rep. Castle. "Centers like Westside are continually reaching out to those who are uninsured and you can be assured I will continue my work as your federal representative to bring funding back to Delaware for these critical initiatives and programs."

From left to right, Wilmington City Councilman and WSH Board member Norman Griffiths; Mayor James Baker; Lt. Governor John Carney,;Lolita Lopez, President & CEO, Westside; Wilmington City Councilperson Stephanie Bolden; U.S. Rep. Mike Castle, and Donna Goodman, VP & CFO/COO, Westside.

Check out the press release Download westside.pdf

Delaware Gets Dollars to Expand Care

Westside Health Inc. in Wilmington, Del. has received $549,517 in federal funds to expand its reach to the state's medically disenfranchised. The big check from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Service will be used to provide life-saving primary health care services to more people in the Wilmington area. Already Westside serves about 16,000 men, women and children. But thanks to the new funds, the health center they can reach an additional 3,000 patients at their Northeast Health Center-- a new facility in Wilmington, where the statistics for infant mortality, HIV/AIDS, and diabetes are among the worst in the state. U.S. Rep. Mike Castle (R-DE) visited the health center to hand over the check earlier this week.

"Because of the work of Westside Health and other Community Health Centers throughout the state and the country, I have continually fought for adequate funding each year for these entities because I believe they are a great asset to healthcare coverage in the United States," said Rep. Castle. "Centers like Westside are continually reaching out to those who are uninsured and you can be assured I will continue my work as your federal representative to bring funding back to Delaware for these critical initiatives and programs."

From left to right, Wilmington City Councilman and WSH Board member Norman Griffiths; Mayor James Baker; Lt. Governor John Carney,;Lolita Lopez, President & CEO, Westside; Wilmington City Councilperson Stephanie Bolden; U.S. Rep. Mike Castle, and Donna Goodman, VP & CFO/COO, Westside.

Check out the press release Download westside.pdf

Health Research & IRBs

The role of Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) will be the topic of two upcoming conference calls hosted by Community Campus Partnerships for Health and Tuskegee University National Center for Bioethics in Research and Health Care. The point is to boost understanding of the role of IRBs and other mechanisms for assuring that human subjects research is ethical and appropriate. It is worth underscoring here that a cursory review of modern world history offers some glaring and horrific examples of research that defy human morals and understanding-- so discussions like these can and do advance mankind's efforts to avoid a repeat of the past. The conference call series has among the featured speakers two leaders from Community Health Centers: Vickie Ybarra, Director of Outreach and Services, Yakima Valley Farmworkers Clinic, in Toppenish, WA; and Sheila Beckham, Preventive Health Services Director, Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center, in Waianae, Hawaii. These two speakers have some nuggets of wisdom to offer because Communty Health Centers are run by Community Boards that have a 51 patient majority. That's the secret of their success in fighting disease in poor and underserved communities.
To learn more about the series, visit http://depts.washington.edu/ccph/irbcalls.html1:

Smoked Out in Michigan

Here's a shocking statistic: Approximately 25 percent of men and 22 percent of women who live in Michigan smoke. The Michigan Primary Care Association (MPCA) is hoping to snuff out those numbers with the help of a federal grant. MPCA will work with the Michigan Department of Community Health/Primary Care Office and Michigan Community Health Centers to take an active role in Michigan’s cancer and tobacco control coalitions with the goal of improving health outcomes for patients. Smoking is not only the biggest cancer risk, but also the most preventable cause of death. You can read about these efforts in MPCA's newsletter. Download news_notes_jan_feb_2007.pdf

Tools to Tackle Disparities

Community Health Centers are now armed with another tool to reduce racial health disparities, particularly among minorities who have diabetes, thanks to Pfizer. The online toolkit helps health centers and other community-based providers become a "bridge" between people with diabetes and community and health system resources (because too often the resources are beyond reach). The point of the program is to improve residents' health and lower health costs. A new Web site, AmigosEnSalud.com, provides detailed steps that health centers and other health organizations to continue their important work in keeping communities healthy.
“Diabetes, which disproportionately affects Hispanics and African Americans, is often accompanied by other serious health conditions such as cardiovascular disease and depression that require lifestyle changes in diet, physical activity, and blood sugar management,” said Joseph Gallegos, Vice President of Operations for the Western Region of the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC). “This program serves as one example of best practices that can be found in Community Health Centers around the country that Latinos and other minority groups call their medical home. By virtue of coming from a minority background, mostly low-income and uninsured, places them at greater risk and they face numerous barriers (language, cultural, financial) and most often lack access to care. Now that the public health community has a best practice resource for implementing a CHW program, we encourage them to take advantage of it.” One in seven patients at Community Health Centers are minorities – 36% are Hispanic/Latino, 23% are African American, 3.4% are Asian Pacific Islanders and 1.1% American Indian/Alaskan Native.