The season of summer has finally arrived here in Chicago –and Erie Family Health Center does not plan on wasting a single moment of this balmy, beautiful weather. Recently, a few Erie employees volunteered their time to help break ground on the new Henson Garden Initiative Program, a part of Erie’s Health and Wellness Program at Erie Henson School Based Health Center. This program aims to promote healthy lifestyles to children living within the North Lawndale community through education on healthy eating and the importance of physical activity.

The Henson Garden Initiative is just one facet of the Henson Health and Wellness Program. The Henson Garden Initiative, which is an after school program for the students of Henson, will help children increase their knowledge of nutrition through planting and managing a garden. Since the children will be helping to assemble the garden and grow the produce, the garden will not only serve as an opportunity for education but also as an opportunity for physical activity. Children will also be able to share the information they’ve learned about healthy living to their peers through classroom presentations. Children will be sent home with produce from the garden as well as recipes to prepare with their parents at home. Any additional produce will be donated to the emergency food pantry at Henson, which help teach the students an important lesson on giving back to their community.

There are many benefits to exposing children, especially children living in urban areas, to information about healthy eating. “Exposing children to where their food comes from, how it grows and why it’s important to eat healthy foods allows them to be informed and empowered about making healthy choices,” says Elizabeth Mendoza, an Erie AmeriCorps Health Educator.  “When this information is presented at a young age, the children are then able to get a healthier start in life.”

Programs such as the Henson Garden Initiative are especially important in areas that are designated as ‘food deserts’ – which refers to areas where access to fresh produce is limited. Through informing children about healthy foods that they may not have been in contact with and educating them on the benefits of incorporating these foods into their daily diet, they are able to take this information back with them to their friends and families.

The children who have begun to participate in the program are extremely satisfied and happy to learn more about what it means to be healthy. “Each week that we have been working in the garden, more students have joined in to learn about plants, produce and – of course – to dig in the dirt,” says Lily Bevis, an AmeriCorps Health Educator.  “Several community members have also shown support for the garden through encouraging comments.”

Erie Family Health Center echoes the excitement of the children for the Henson Garden Initiative. It’s another example of the innovative ways Erie brings healthy living to Chicago – one community at a time.

Why is Erie’s Residency Program Important?

Erie’s residency program was created to address the changing needs of health care, including the shortage of primary care physicians. Some experts predict that there will be 10% shortage of primary care doctors by 2020. Additionally, through health care reform, as many as 32 million more Americans will be eligible for health care insurance. Without enough primary care doctors, these newly insured Americans will not be able to access care. In fact, According to the Council on Graduate Medical Education, if 35% of those currently uninsured were to gain insurance coverage, 84,000 primary care physicians would be required. Since many of these newly insured individuals will seek health care, and they will seek it in the very communities in which they live – neighborhoods, towns, locations where community health centers exist – it has never been more important to create primary care training programs within these communities.

Teaching Health Centers Funding

To provide this program, Erie and its partners receive funding through the Teaching Health Centers Program, which provides the support needed to sustain the program in the long-term. This legislation created the foundation for training programs like Erie’s, which seek to train the primary care physicians of tomorrow in a community-based setting. Recently, the Teaching Health Centers Program was placed at risk when the House of Representatives voted to make the funding part of an annual appropriations process, rather than mandatory funding. This means that each year training programs across the country would be unsure of whether they will receive funding or not. Uncertainty of this kind can prevent programs from expanding, planning ahead and, in some cases, continuing to exist. While this legislation is not expected to reach the Senate floor as a standalone bill, the risk is still very present and real.   

Like many community-based residency programs across the country, Erie stands ready to continue training the primary care physicians of tomorrow and providing access to care for millions of underserved Americans. We thank Senator Durbin for allowing us to share our Family Practice Residency Program with him and his staff.

Erie Family Health Center promises many things to the Chicago communities it serves – quality and compassionate health care, a warm and comforting environment, and the promotion of wellness and preventative care. To continually fulfill those promises, Erie understands innovation, creativity, and above all, the ability to search continually for opportunities will lead to better serve our patients every day.

Erie Family Health Center’s new partnership with Northwestern’s Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer ’s Disease Center is a perfect example of Erie’s commitment to developing new ways to help all patients achieve optimum health – both physically and mentally. This new Erie venture is supported by a Community Partnership grant from Northwestern Memorial Hospital – La Memoria Project. The new program will provide patients with cognitive impairments with screenings, psychosocial assessments, health education, and a link to critical support services. Kristen Oshyn, a Master’s-trained social work intern will counsel patients living with dementia and their caregivers to provide them with the support and resources at Erie Family Health Center.

Dementia is an emerging public health crisis in Hispanic communities in the United States. Dementia cases among the Hispanic population are expected to increase six-fold during the first half of this century. In other words, 1.3 million Hispanics are projected to have the disease in 2050, compared to less than 200,000 currently living with the disease today. “Elderly Latinos with memory loss and dementia and their families face many barriers in the care and treatment of dementia,” says Kristen.  “This grant was intended to improve the recognition of the barriers currently present for Erie families to access cognitive screening resources.”

Being able to diagnose Alzheimer’s in its earliest stages is critical. When medication is started in the beginning stages of the disease, it has a greater impact on slowing its progression. By providing patients with access to cognitive screenings, there is a greater ability to recognize the onset of Alzheimer symptoms. “In addition to medication options, being aware of the disease can also give families an opportunity to plan for the future and receive information on how to care for their loved one as the disease progresses,” says Kristen.  The program also offers support to the caregivers of those patients suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. “Through providing support for the caregivers, they can gain healthy coping mechanisms, which are critical to helping maintain their own health, since care giving can place a great deal of strain on individuals and families.”

Erie Family Health Center understands that caring for the health of their patients includes caring for their mental and emotional health. Erie treats the whole person – not just their symptoms. Through Erie’s strong partnerships, like with Northwestern, Erie is able to evolve and improve its health care methods everyday to ensure that all patients receive the best quality care possible.

If you want to witness some of the exceptional services Erie Family Health Center provides, all you have to do is take a seat in  an Erie waiting room.  You’ll see patients moving in and out, taking with them a reassurance they’ve found a place that truly cares about their health.  If you wander throughout the clinic, you’ll see case managers working diligently alongside patients, educators teaching about the importance of exercise and healthy eating, providers listening to patients’ stories, and support groups learning and offering guidance to one another.

The amazing thing about Erie is that these wonderful services extend beyond the Erie walls. Outreach workers travel throughout Chicago communities to schools and social service agencies, educating and informing Chicagoans about a variety of health issues. By informing others on topics such as oral health, HIV/AIDS, depression, wellness and many others, these outreach workers not only teach participants about how to improve their health, but also spread the word on how Erie Family Health Center can help guide them to a healthier life.

Lauren Ranalli MPH, Manager of Community Programs, sees Erie’s outreach program as a vital part of bringing the message of health into Chicago communities.  “Outreach presentations are a great opportunity for Erie to engage with community members,” says Lauren. “They are a way for us to tell Chicago residents about the comprehensive programs and services offered at Erie.”

Outreach services also offer audiences the chance to focus on a particular topic or facet of their health. Whether it’s demonstrating the proper way to exercise, giving a cooking lesson, or using models to demonstrate the pathways of medication, presentations take a new spin on standard health lessons. “Participants at our outreach presentations can increase their knowledge on a new health topic, such as how to better manage their diabetes or protect themselves from contracting HIV.  They can also gain a new skill, such as how to talk to their child about sexual health or how to read a food nutrition label,” says Lauren.

Benjamin Harris, an Erie Americorp Health Educator, knows firsthand the importance of Erie’s outreach services. “I think we, as a society, are learning that human health is a much more complex and multi-faceted state than we initially thought—one that requires a more multi-dimensional and multi-member approach,” says Benjamin. “Outreach workers work with our patients and participants to take what their provider tells them and apply it to their own lives in feasible and meaningful ways.”

Most importantly, outreach services offer a continued resource for health – Erie Family Health Center.  “Participants can learn about great resources at Erie and in the community,” Lauren says. “For example, participants will learn who is eligible to receive a free mammogram through the Illinois Breast and Cervical Cancer Program or how to set up a smoking cessation appointment with Erie’s Lung Health Educator.”

Erie’s outreach services continually strive to carry the Erie mission of providing accessible and affordable health care forward. They present health care in a unique and versatile way to the communities Erie serves. “Accessible and affordable health care requires a team that collaborates in all aspects – from the exam room to the conference room where our education classes meet to our patients’ homes,” states Benjamin. “Our mission to provide affordable, accessible and high quality care takes a strong commitment to serve and to build a trusting relationship with our patients and communities. As outreach workers, we add a new dimension to that service – we reinforce and build upon the trust that is built between our providers and our patients, between our centers and the communities we serve.”

Erie Family Health Center would like to thank everyone who attended Salud and the City on February 24, 2011. Because of your support, Erie was able to raise funds to support all of our programs! If you were able to join us for the event we hope you had a great evening at LaSalle Power Company and enjoyed the live band, South of 80! If you missed the event don’t worry, we have you covered. Click here to check out photos on Flickr!

A Partnership between Loyola Chicago School of Law and

Erie Family Health Center

Erie Family Health Center aims to provide affordable, accessible, high quality care – care that sometimes extends beyond health care. We understand that every aspect of a person’s life can affect their overall health. At Erie, our mission extends beyond caring for just the patient’s physical well-being.

Erie recognizes that as a community health center, we have a unique opportunity in the lives of our patients. We listen to their frustrations, hold their hands through pain, and work with them to find solutions to the challenges they face. Erie Family Health Center is excited to announce a program that will provide another opportunity to be an additional pillar of support for all patients. Erie has recently partnered with the Health Justice Project at Loyola University Chicago School of Law. The Health Justice Project is a medical-legal partnership clinic in which Juris Doctorate (JD) students train community health care providers of low-income individuals and families and help them identify social and legal issues that negatively impact the health of their patients. Under this partnership, Erie staff will be able to identify social and legal issues that contribute to the health conditions of Erie patients. Once identified, Erie providers will be able to refer patients to JD students or pro bono attorneys participating in the Health Justice Project. Patients will then be able to receive brief advice, representation and resolution.

Emily Benefer is a professor at Loyola University of Chicago School of Law as well as the Director of the Health Justice Project. Emily has seen firsthand the benefits of legal and health care partnerships, especially in community health care settings. “Social issues continue to have a devastating effect on patient health,” says Emily. “In these cases, medicine alone cannot solve health problems – especially of people who struggle with hunger and safety.” Erie Family Health Center sees cases like these every day. Children come in with severe respiratory problems caused by moldy apartments; children that will never find complete relief unless their living conditions improve. The health of many chronically ill adults will never get better unless they receive support to purchase adequate and nutritional food.

“The medical-legal partnership approach allows us to leverage health and legal resources in order to reduce health disparities and create a new standard of care for vulnerable populations,” states Emily. “In the community health care setting, the Health Justice Project can identify adverse social conditions and address them with legal remedies as a part of care.” According to Emily, finding a community health center that would be a good partner for this project was easy. “It had to be Erie,” says Emily. She cites the enthusiasm and commitment of the Erie staff to serving vulnerable populations as well as Erie’s strive to educate the next generation of stewards of family medicine as some of the reasons. “Erie has exceeded our every expectation.  Erie doctors and staff members impress and inspire us on a daily basis and Erie patients motivate us to work harder and learn more to succeed.” The Health Justice Project at Erie Family Health Center is a wonderful addition and has proven to be another tool Erie can use to treat every patient with dignity, respect and care.

Erie Teen Center’s Comprehensive Approach and New Walk-In Services

Not many will argue that teenage years can be a very confusing time in a person’s life. No longer a child, but not quite an adult, teens consistently performing a balancing act between these two worlds. Peer pressures from the media and social groups also can become an obstacle in a teen’s life. For teens in need of somewhere turn, Erie Teen Center becomes a haven of support and information for adolescents trying to mull their way through this challenging time.

Erie Teen Health Center has been in operation for over 25 years. It is the only freestanding, comprehensive teen health center in the Chicagoland area. While most adolescent sites only offer family planning services or care for young women, Erie Teen Center offers a multitude of services for young adults ages 12 to 24, including reproductive care, well child care, school and sport physicals, behavioral health services, health education and case management. The response from the teen patients has been overwhelmingly positive and most patients hear about Erie Teen Center through word-of-mouth. Last year alone, Erie Teen Center provided over 6,000 patient visits.

While adolescents and teens tend to be a healthy population in general, they also are a group who is more likely to participate in high risk behaviors—yet teens have the lowest rates of accessing preventive health care. “This is a critical point in their development, and many adolescents are not seeking care,” says Amy Valukas, site director of Erie Teen Center. “Studies have found that preventive, primary, reproductive and behavioral health services that are matched to teens, with a focus on reducing high-risk behaviors, have the potential of improving the health of young people.” From the moment teens enter Erie Teen Center, everyone from the front desk staff, to the nurses, medical assistants and providers are educating these teens about reducing risk behaviors and promoting good self care.

Amy says the overwhelming support teens receive from the staff encourages teens to come to Erie Teen Center and most importantly, what keeps them coming back. “Studies have found adolescents are more likely to access health care when their confidentiality is assured, they are shown respect, providers are non-judgmental, health care is provided in a teen-only setting and they are given time discuss their concerns” says Amy. Amy also highlights the Erie Teen Center staff as another source of comfort and compassion for the teen patients. “Erie Teen Center staff is committed to providing just that – comprehensive, confidential, low or no-cost teen friendly care.” Other services, such as case management, Centering Pregnancy and Parenting programs for teen parents and even text message appointment reminders all consistently ensure teen patients they are supported in their health care.

Erie Teen Center is excited to offer a new service to its patients: walk in services. Walk in services are now available for patients between the ages of 12 and 19.  These services include pregnancy testing, rapid HIV testing and STD testing, are offered every Wednesday from 2 pm to 6 pm and do not require an appointment. Considering many of these young adults are navigating the health care system for the first time, walk-in services offers them the flexibility they need and reduces barriers to accessing quality health care. Besides pregnancy, HIV and STD testing, services will also include comprehensive education on reducing high-risk behaviors in the future. Teens also will be educated on how to access future care through scheduling an appointment.

There are a lot of complexities that encompass a young teenager’s life, but because of places like Erie Teen Center, accessing quality health care isn’t one of them. Erie Teen Center is more than just another health center. It is a place of support and compassion, made up of people working tirelessly to meet the needs of every aspect of a patient’s health.

Erie Beats

While we all know presents are lovely, there are some gifts you can’t pick up at a store downtown Chicago. This holiday season, help your community and bring Joy to Erie by giving the gift of health. You can directly assist members of the Chicago community by making a donation. Every dollar given helps bring an extra ounce of joy into the lives of low-income Chicagoans all year around.

Erie Family Health Center was named one of the Top 100 Workplaces by the Chicago Tribune! Erie staff members and board chair Brian Marsella attended an event hosted by the Tribune on Tuesday, November 9 at the Chase Auditorium to be recognized for this honor. The group also have the opportunity to meet and speak with Chicago Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz.

Watch a special video message from Erie’s President and CEO Dr. Lee Francis or read our company profile online! Be sure to pick up your copy of the Chicago Tribune today for a special feature magazine!

This month Erie was presented with a check for a grant we received from the Aetna Foundation for the Henson Wellness Program at Erie Henson School-Based Health Center. The support from Aetna will allow Erie to provide the Henson Wellness Program to directly help reduce childhood obesity through three types of innovative programs: 1. BodyWorks afterschool program, 2. Building Active Lives Around Nutrition Centered Education (BALANCE) classroom-based curriculum and 3. Henson Garden Initiative.

The BodyWorks program will provide obese or overweight girls with the tools/strategies to improve eating and exercise habits. The BALANCE program will help children incorporate good nutrition and physical activity into their daily lives. The launch the Henson Garden Initiative will increase knowledge of nutrition while engaging children in physical activity by planting and maintaining a garden at Henson Elementary. All three of the programs are important to help children live healthier, happier lives. Thank you Aetna!