Erie Family Health Center

Erie Family Health Center partners with Northwestern University to bring a brand new health care program to Erie patients

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.”

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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.

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The Governor of Illinois, Pat Quinn, has officially declared January Cervical Cancer Awareness Month. It is predicted that 590 women in Illinois will be diagnosed with cervical cancer this year while 180 women will lose their life to the disease. All women are at risk for cervical cancer but it occurs most often in women over 30 years of age. The Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is the main cause of cervical cancer.

With routine screening and follow up, cervical cancer is highly preventable. Early detection through routine screenings will help to increase the chances of survival. The Illinois Breast and Cervical Cancer Program (IBCCP), which is offered at Erie Family Health Center, provides free mammograms, breast exams, pelvic exams, and Pap Tests to uninsured women. IBCCP has provided 17,908 cervical cancer screenings to uninsured women in the past fiscal year. Throughout January, public and private organizations and state and local governments throughout the country will promote education about cervical cancer causes, screenings, and treatments.

Beats this week:

1) Did you know that today is Senior Health and Fitness Day? It most certainly is! The last Wednesday in May is reserved for promoting the need to help older Americans stay healthy and fit.  This year, around 100,000 older adults will participate in activities at more than 1,000 locations throughout the U.S. for the 17^th Annual Senior Health and Fitness Day.

2) A report released recently from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that only one in five children in America live within half a mile from a park. The report also reveals other alarming statistics, such as the fact that less than one in five U.S. high school students get at least an hour of physical activity a day.

3) The National Health Center for Statistics handed down some good news this week: for the second year in a row, premature birth rates have dropped. This decrease held true for all age groups and races, except for women over 40. Despite these overall decreases, large disparities still exist for minority populations.

4) The Illinois House passed an emergency budget yesterday for the state of Illinois. The budget relies mainly on the following: borrowing and currently undefined spending cuts (to be defined by Governor Quinn). It is still unclear how the state plans to pay backlogged bills. Not found in the budget are new ways to increase revenue. Stay tuned as the Springfield drama continues to unfold!

5) A recent article published in Health Affairs outlines the differences of income for a cardiologist and a primary care physician over a lifetime. The results are staggering: ‘Their calculations showed that cardiologists earn a career average of more than $5 million, compared with $2.5 million for primary care physicians.’ Perhaps this is why we have a shortage of primary care doctors?

Bonus Beat! This week we have a bonus beat!

A study conducted by the RAND Corp. found that pay for performance programs may actually have the potential to worsen health disparities. Essentially, the study claims that if physicians are paid for the medical performance of their patients then they might actually avoid providing care in areas that could potentially experience lower health status outcomes.

I had the pleasure of sitting down earlier this week with Erie’s Vice President of Oral Health Services, Dr. Gus Souri, to chat about his experiences in community dentistry, the continued need for more access and the 2010 Golden Toothbrush Awards Luncheon. Check out the video below!

Interview with Erie Family Health Center’s Dr. Souri DDS from Erie Family Health Center on Vimeo.

Earlier this week, Beats Per Minute took you into the world of a very important public health issue: health disparities in underserved communities. Cancer, diabetes and oral health – all of these issues hit very close to home for the communities served by Erie Family Health Center. For Erie, creating a healthier America begins at the community level, where care and prevention interventions are specifically designed to meet the needs of our patients and community members. Today, in honor of National Public Health Week, Beats Per Minute would like to give you the inside scoop on those Erie programs designed to reduce and eliminate health disparities experienced in our community.

Cancer

For the patients in Erie’s communities, early screening for breast and cervical cancer can be problematic, especially for those who are underinsured or uninsured and without the funds to pay for the procedures. Erie has a long-standing commitment to educating women on the importance of getting screened and working to provide better access for screening, either through Erie or external referrals. In early 2008, Erie became a lead agency for the Illinois Breast and Cervical Cancer Program (IBCCP). Through this program, Erie can provide either through our facilities or outside agencies free screening for breast and cervical cancers to women who qualify for the program. In the first half of this fiscal year alone, Erie enrolled nearly 400 women in the IBCCP program and provided culturally competent education about the importance of screening to nearly 12,000 people.

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The American Public Health Association has designated this week National Public Health Week. Since 1995, the United States has used this week to highlight the importance of public health and the need for improved health in our country. This year’s theme is ‘A Healthier America: One Community at a Time.’  This theme resonates with community-based health organizations, like Erie Family Health Center. For Erie, creating a healthier America begins at the community level, where care and prevention can be designed specifically for the needs of the local community.

For Erie and other public health advocates around the country, one of the most important health issues facing America today are the  health disparities that exist in medically underserved communities. That means that certain groups of people in our country—like those with lower incomes—experience health problems at greater rates than the general population.  At Beats Per Minute, we would like to highlight a few of the health disparities that hit home in the communities that Erie serves.

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