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Madison County organizes free clinic for its uninsured, The Columbus Dispatch, Thursday, August 4, 2005 Food bank hits the road to help seniors, kids, The Columbus Dispatch, Thursday, June 9, 2005 Low-cost health clinic scheduled to open in London this summer, Madison County (OH) Messenger, May 30, 2005 Extra money should help train more nurses, The Columbus Dispatch, Wednesday, May 4, 2005 Grants totaling $150,000 received by Athens, Meigs, The Athens (OH) Messenger, Saturday, April 30, 2005 New dental coach brings HOME care to children in at-risk areas, ODA Today, March 2005 Health on Wheels: Mobile clinics take medical care where people need it most, The Columbus Dispatch, Sunday, March 13, 2005 Local effort under way to bolster nursing, The Columbus Dispatch, Tuesday, March 1, 2005 Mobile dental care wheels into CPS, ThisWeek Newspapers, Thursday, February 24, 2005 $898,000 in donations: Health care for poor gets boost, The Columbus Dispatch, Friday, February 4, 2005 Madison County organizes free clinic for its uninsured:
LONDON, Ohio -- Even her grandson knows Doreen Keller doesn't have any money. Keller plans to make deliveries for Help House Clothing Pantry in town. "I noticed that everyone has had a smiling face that came to that window," said Croom, 23, of London. "It puts more hope in our community. The clinic is part of a new collaboration called Madison County Health Partners, Dhume said, which brings together health departments, government, businesses and religious organizations to aid what the Miami survey shows is a growing number of uninsured residents. While the medical staff tended the patients' physical needs, Pastor Lynn Shunk, of New Life Fellowship, waited in the lobby to address their spiritual needs. The Ministry for Community helped create the clinic and trained community members to be part of a prayer team. One person each week waits for patients who ask for prayer. An Xray room doubles as a makeshift chapel. "We're trying to treat the whole person," said Twyla Mc-Namara, a member of the ministry. Nadene Schlosser said the clinic illustrates the compassion of Madison County's residents. She works as the director of cardiopulmonary medicine at the hospital, but she volunteered to collect patient information at the clinic. Darrell McHenry, of London, knows first-hand just how quickly things can flip upside down. The 46-year-old had health insurance until he lost his job this year. Now, he said, he doesn't have $20 to his name. He snapped his fingers. "Like that, your life can change. "The clinic runs from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. every Monday at 210 N. Main St. in London. Uninsured Madison County residents can call 740-845-7286 for an appointment. Reprinted with permission from The Columbus Dispatch | top | Food bank hits the road to help seniors, kids:
Betty McDannald, 85, was most excited about the strawberries. "This obviously is a place where food is really needed," said Evelyn Behm, associate director of the food bank. "For most of them, they can't get out to a food pantry. "The two most valuable populations that are served through food pantries and soup kitchens are children and seniors," Behm said. "One of the things we find to be true is many low-income families can't afford the kind of foods they need." For low-income individuals who have few options other than cheap, unhealthy food, the mobile market will do a lot of good, said Lucy Davis, Maplewood Heights occupancy technician. Reprinted with permission from The Columbus Dispatch. | top | Low-cost health clinic scheduled to open in London this summer
Ten doctors and 30 nurses have signed up to volunteer their services to a low-cost health clinic set to open in London this summer. Their commitment helped the newly formed Madison County Health Partners to win start-up funding from the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation. Ministry For Community (MFC) spearheaded development of Madison County Health Partners, which includes MFC, Madison County Hospital and the Madison County/London City Health Department, to provide basic health services to Madison County residents who are uninsured or under-insured. "It's nice to see so many people coming together for a common cause," Dhume said. "We're reaping the benefits of collaboration and communication that have been building in Madison County for the past few years." Creation of the low-cost clinic is due, in part, to results of a community-wide needs assessment conducted by Miami University in 2003. The study revealed that 12 percent of Madison County residents were uninsured in 2003. When the next assessment is conducted in 2006, that percentage will likely be higher, Dhume said. For now, the low-cost clinic will operate as a faith-based non-profit organization under Ministry For Community's fiscal umbrella and will not duplicate services provided by other agencies that can be obtained at no charge. Opening day for the clinic will be determined after the Health Partners hire an executive director, the only paid person for the clinic. The director will work part-time (20 hours) and be responsible for coordinating operations. Applicants must have at least three years of experience in a health care setting and the ability to collaborate with community agencies. Current registered nurse license in the State of Ohio is preferred. Resumes may be submitted through June 1 to: Madison County Health Partners, P.O. Box 651, London, Ohio 43140. Clinic patients will be asked to donate $5 for the services they received, and they must be Madison County residents. If they cannot contribute money, they will be asked to volunteer one hour with a local non-profit organization. Dhume says the latter option gives patients a change to put their unique skills to work. It's part of a community-strengthening philosophy that "eliminates needs by building assets," he said. Anyone interested in volunteering at the clinic as a physician, nurse, receptionist or member of the spiritual team may call Twyla NcNamara at 614-309-9265. | top | Extra money should help train more nurses: National shortage caused by lack of teachers, school capacity
Efforts to train more nurses in Columbus will get a boost from nearly $1.5 million in new funding, officials say. The foundation, based in Columbus, has been working with the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce and the city's four major hospital systems -- Mount Carmel, OhioHealth, Children's Hospital and Ohio State University Medical Center -- to attract and retain nurses. In 2002, the most recent year for which figures are available, the five local nursing schools received applications from 1,688 students, Hay said. They had to turn away 970, even though, she said, 200 to 300 of those applicants would have been "excellent nursing candidates.'' The Mount Carmel College of Nursing, which has an enrollment of about 600, will award degrees Saturday to the first three students to complete its master's program. At least one intends to return to Mount Carmel as a faculty member, said Robin Hutchinson-Bell, a spokeswoman for the college. "As long as I can find qualified faculty, we'll increase the number of students,'' the administrator said. About 5 percent of the nursing positions at central Ohio hospitals are open. The vacancy rate statewide is similar. Reprinted with permission from The Columbus Dispatch and WBNS-10TV. | top | Grants totaling $150,000 received by Athens, Meigs
NELSONVILLE -- Seven non-profit organizations serving Ohio's Meigs and Athens counties have received a total of $150,000 from the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation of Nelsonville. The funding will support programs aimed at improving health and quality of life for needy residents. The awards were presented Thursday during a ceremony at Stuart's Opera House in Nelsonville. "Thousands of community residents will benefit from these expanded services for adults with physical and mental impairments, school-age children, individuals with disabilities, the homeless and those with little or no health insurance, just to name a few," said Terri Donlin, director of programs for the foundation. "We're proud to help support these locally-based efforts to improve health and quality of life for the underserved." Funding awards were made to:
Reprinted with permission from the Athens Messenger. | top | New dental coach brings HOME care to children in at-risk areas
For many children in central Ohio, oral health care has proven out of reach, but a new partnership between five community-service organizations is intended to bring it closer to H.O.M.E. The Dental Health Outreach Mobile Experience Coach, a mobile facility that takes dental care directly to students in need within the Columbus Public Schools, made its debut last month at the West Mount Elementary School. With dental operatories and the ability to treat pupils on-site, it is the first mobile dental facility of its kind in Franklin County. "The dental coach is one of the most impressive pieces of machinery I've ever seen. It is an honor for me to welcome the newest coach," said Ohio State University Men's Basketball Coach Thad Matta during a February ceremony launching the facility. "As a basketball coach, I'm used to wins and losses; however, the dental coach is a win- win situation for both the Ohio State dental students (who will help staff the facility) and Columbus Schools." The Dental H.O.M.E. Coach - made possible by a $658,434 grant from the Columbus-based Osteopathic Heritage Foundation, is a component of the Ohio State University College of Dentistry's ongoing outreach program to meet the oral health needs of Ohioans in key under-served areas. The project is an attempt to address the serious need for oral health care in the state. The Ohio Department of Health's 1998 Ohio Family Health Survey found that oral health was the No. 1 unmet health need in Ohio. Other sponsors include Children's Hospital, the Columbus Health Department and the Columbus Public Schools. "The need for this Dental H.O.M.E. Coach is absolutely essential. No child should suffer from toothache, untreated gum disease or other dental problems that quickly become major barriers to enjoying all aspects of daily living," said Gene Harris, Ph.D., the superintendent of Columbus Public Schools. "We cannot achieve our mission of educating each child to his or her full potential if students are in physical pain, can't chew their food properly or are prone to infection due to tooth decay and gum disease." The Columbus Public Health Department has long had in a place a program by which they place sealants on the teeth of Columbus Public Schools students. However, children identified as needing additional treatment often have gone without because their families cannot afford the treatment fees, the time off work or the transportation costs. The Dental H.O.M.E. Coach will give these children access to care on-site at their schools, and in most cases the cost will be borne by Medicaid. The facility will take mobile dental care to an estimated 4,500 Columbus students annually within 30 schools where a high need has been identified. Participating schools were selected based on their high level of participation in the Free and Reduced School Lunch Program, and the coach is expected to be in service five days a week throughout the school year . The 40-foot coach, built by Farber Specialty Vehicles of Columbus, is more than eight feet wide and holds three dental chairs, digital X-ray equipment, a desk, cabinetry and a waiting area. It also includes a laboratory area, four stainless steel sinks, a wheelchair lift and many safety features. The staff will include a full-time dentist, a full-time hygienist and two full-time dental assistants, as well as fourth-year OSU dental students. The project is one that many people have talked about for years, said Jan Kronmiller, DDS, dean of the OSU College of Dentistry, and it is gratifying to see it become a reality. Canise Bean, D.D.S., director of the college's OHIO Project, which is dedicated to providing care to underserved communities said the partnership will have a real impact on a long recognized problem. "We can touch families. We can touch communities. And we can impact the No. 1 health problem in Ohio. That is oral health," she said. Reprinted with permission from the Ohio Dental Association. | top | Health on Wheels: Mobile clinics take medical care where people need it most
The thought of sitting in a dentist's chair didn't seem to bother 12-year-old William Edgerley. He'd been to a dentist before and said he'd brushed that morning. "Did you really brush your teeth?'' Dr. Ashok Kumar asked when the exam began aboard the mobile dental bus parked outside West Mound Elementary School. "I did,'' William answered. He didn't, and Kumar began to scrape the plaque off the fifth-grader's front teeth. William was one of about 15 West Mound students that day to visit the Dental H.O.M.E. Coach, sponsored by Ohio State University's College of Dentistry and the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation. It is one of at least nine mobile units that take health care to the streets. This service, once limited to rural areas where people had few health-care options, is spreading in urban areas nationwide. Because income, a lack of insurance and limited transportation are obstacles for the poor, hospitals say they are taking medicine to those who have traditionally used the emergency room for primary care. "If you know they're reluctant to come to you, you go out and find them,'' said Rick Wade, spokesman for the American Hospital Association. "(Hospitals) are not going to reach people staying in one place.'' Similar mobile units, he said, can be found from New York to Los Angeles -- any urban area where hospitals are out of reach for the uninsured. Wade points to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles as an example. "That's the hospital for the stars and it has one of the most active units I've ever seen,'' Wade said. Technology has also helped boost the number of mobile units. "Things are smaller and the ability to take services to where people are at versus establishing a physical plant in each one of those areas is cost-effective,'' said Jeff Biehl, executive director of Access HealthColumbus, a nonprofit group formed to secure medical services for uninsured Franklin County residents. Mammography units were pioneers in mobile care. The Arthur G. James Cancer Center's buses hit the streets in 1988. Through the years, its buses -- currently two are on the road -- have traveled more than 202,000 miles across Ohio and provided services to about 100,000 women. James officials say at least 1,000 cases of cancer have been found by the mobile units. "We hear over and over again that (women) wouldn't have it done if they couldn't pull into a parking lot or walk outside their workplace,'' said Vera Garofalo, program manager. Now, mobile units provide prenatal and pediatric care, bone screenings, work-injury rehabilitation and dental care. In many cases, the target groups are school-age children of the working poor. The cost varies. Some patients aren't charged, others use Medicaid or Medicare, and others -- such as the mammography units -- take insurance. "We know that many of the parents have to work, which is a change from a few years ago. They can't afford themselves taking off and going to the doctor,'' said Dr. Olivia Thomas, a pediatrician at Children's Hospital. "We've got to meet those families where they are and with these services.'' Children's Close to Home Mobile Care Center visits 14 Columbus schools, where doctors provide primary care. The biggest issue, they say, is dental care. Sore teeth and gums are reasons for missed school days, which motivated Dr. Canise Bean, of the OSU College of Dentistry, to make the dental bus a reality. She said she had no idea of the scope of the problem. "So many of them require root canals and extractions of the permanent teeth,'' Bean said. "It really takes considerable neglect and poor nutritional habits for permanent teeth in an elementary school-age child for an extraction.'' Students take home information packets to their parents, who fill out Medicaid forms. The same goes for other mobile units, including OhioHealth's Wellness on Wheels and Mount Carmel Health System's Mobile Coach, which travel to schools, churches, malls and homeless shelters. Most are funded through corporate grants, by the hospitals or hospital foundations. Vehicles cost as much as $1 million to purchase and equip with medical equipment. Keeping them rolling costs about $500,000 a year. But these costs can end up saving money in the long run. "The care that we provide on the unit and centers is much less expensive than the emergency department and urgent care,'' Thomas said. It's worth the investment, said Terri Donlin of the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation, which provided the $660,000 for the dental bus equipped with four flat-screen televisions. "The concept of providing care to the children where they are improves access to care they might otherwise not have,'' Donlin said. In the West Mound Elementary parking lot, Kumar is finished and William's teeth are clean. The boy sat in the waiting area watching a cartoon on a TV. Because of neglect, William's gums bled a little after the cleaning. He said he didn't mind. "It just feels funny here,'' he said, as he touched an upper tooth. In his hand, a piece of paper noted that he had seven cavities. Kumar said he will fill four teeth. The other three -- all baby teeth -- will be pulled. Reprinted with permission from The Columbus Dispatch | top | Local effort under way to bolster nursing
I respond to the Feb. 14 Dispatch article "Shortage of nurses growing nationwide." The article raises a valid concern, but it is important for your readers to understand the efforts that have been under way to support nursing locally. In 2001, the Columbus Chamber of Commerce created the Columbus Healthcare Workforce Center. Since this time, the chamber, along with the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation, the Ohio Hospital Association and the four local nonprofit hospital systems, have been collaborating to attract health-care workers, specifically nurses, to the area. And, the local nursing programs have increased enrollment, although the current number of graduates will not fill the needs. Local health-care employment has grown by more than one-third since 1990, and this trend is forecast to continue into the foreseeable future. During our environmental analysis, we learned that nursing programs need additional resources to enroll and educate more nursing students. With support from U.S. Rep. Deborah Pryce, R-Upper Arlington, Columbus is receiving about $450,000 in federal funds to support local nursing programs. Further, the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation has invited the local programs to submit proposals designed to increase the number of local nursing graduates. The foundation has targeted up to $1 million to support this initiative. And, the hospital systems have invested significantly in tuition assistance and other supportive programs for employees who are interested in continuing education in health services. Also, the chamber, with support from the hospital systems, is leading a national campaign to attract nurses to the region. An objective of these collaborative efforts is to enhance the strength of the nursing work force, positively affecting the health of our community. Our community is fortunate to have exceptional nurses and other allied health professionals as well as extraordinary hospital systems. The efforts described above are intended to maintain a healthy community, support those involved in health-care delivery and head off the potential of a local crisis. RICK VINCENT Reprinted with permission from The Columbus Dispatch | top | Mobile Dental Care Wheels into CPS
Singing their original ditty, "The dental van drives to our school ...," West Mound Elementary School students helped launch a new mobile dental office that will provide care for Columbus Public School students. The new Dental HOME (Health Outreach Mobile Experience) coach made its first stop on Tuesday at West Mound, where dentists and Ohio State University dental students will clean teeth, fill cavities and teach oral health to the school's 445 students over the next two or three weeks. From there, it will move on to other city schools. The dental coach is a joint project of the school district, the OSU College of Dentistry, Columbus Children's Hospital, the Columbus Health Department and the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation, which provided a $658,434 grant to pay for the coach and to cover operating expenses for three years. "No child should suffer from tooth aches, gum disease and other oral health problems," said CPS Superintendent Gene Harris during a kick-off ceremony held at West Mound. "Dental referrals outnumber medical referrals and are fully 30 percent of all health-related referrals in Columbus Public Schools today," she said. Two-thirds of CPS students are eligible for free and reduced-price lunches, she said, and many of their families lack access to routine dental care. Debera Diggs, a South Side activist whose grandchildren attend Columbus schools, said she sees the problem first-hand. "Parents wait for emergencies (before getting their kids to the dentist)," she said. "Not only do they not get dental care themselves, they don't understand the need for their children. ... This is going to teach children the importance of preventive care." West Mound Principal Karla R. Case was equally optimistic. "Rarely a day goes by without kids coming to us with a toothache," she said. "The parents are thrilled and the kids are actually excited about going on the van." About 4,500 CPS students in 30 high-need schools will be served annually, according to estimates by Canise Bean, director of the OHIO Project at the College of Dentistry who helped develop the HOME coach. A task force started to look at bringing dental service to the schools six years ago, after the Columbus Health Department -- which was providing sealants to kids teeth --noted that recommended follow-up care often wasn't done. That, and the fact that the state determined in 1998 that oral health care was Ohio's primary unmet health need, led the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation to dedicate more than $3-million in funding to provide dental services to families in central and southeastern Ohio, said foundation President Rick Vincent. The coach itself is outfitted with three dental chairs, digital x-ray equipment, autoclave and ultrasonic cleaner, four sinks, a wheelchair lift and a small waiting area. Each patient station includes a ceiling-mounted TV monitor, which can play videos and DVDs, to help the kids relax and to educate them about their teeth. The schools to be served will be identified gradually, and will be located throughout the city, said Bean. The coach is expected to be in operation five days a week throughout the school year, she said. Reprinted with permission from ThisWeek Newspapers. | top | $898,000 in Donations: Health Care for Poor Gets Boost
More than 3,700 of Columbus' neediest will be linked to a consistent source of health care thanks to an infusion of money into health centers on the city's South and West sides. Access HealthColumbus is funneling more than $898,000 to seven health-care providers that have promised to boost services to the poor. Access, a public-private partnership, links needy Franklin County residents with primary-care doctors and specialists and makes sure they get the medications they require. This round of grants almost triples the amount the group forwarded in 2003. Those grants went to three South Side medical providers. Since then, more than 2,000 people have enrolled in the Access network. The money this time comes from four donors. The Franklin County commissioners awarded $300,000; the Columbus Medical Association Foundation gave $300,000; the Osteopathic Heritage Foundations gave $198,469; and Donald W. and Nancy E. Kelley, of the Columbus Foundation , gave $100,000. The focus remains on areas of the city where many people rely on Medicaid or have no insurance. The plan to almost triple the number of people served by the network is promising, said Jeff Biehl, Access' executive director. At the same time, he acknowledged, the funds are nowhere near enough to erase the growing number of those who don't have a regular physician and rely on emergency rooms and scattershot clinic visits for care. "It's no substitute for state or national reform,'' he said. But as Access grows, however incrementally, the differences are being felt in Columbus. "If I didn't have Access HealthColumbus, I don't know what I'd do. I'd pull my hair out,'' said Robert Skully, a family doctor who sees Medicaid and uninsured patients five days a week at Grant Medical Center's Family Health Care Center on E. Town Street. The group provides medications for those who have no way to pay for them. And every day, Skully said, he sees people who have major health concerns, such as high blood Other grants will increase access to evening prenatal visits at neighborhood health centers, provide vision and dental care at the Ohio State University Family Practice on South High, and increase capacity at the OSU Family Practice and the South High Center for Primary Care. Last year, Access made 1,787 referrals to specialists, provided 6,918 prescription drugs and provided transportation to health-care services 1,833 times. Biehl said his group is taking its time, growing at a pace that ensures it is not spreading its limited resources too thin. "We don't want to end up with a huge backlog . . . the demand is huge.'' Reprinted with permission from The Columbus Dispatch |
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