Erie Family Health Center

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.

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.

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Erie Beats

It is pretty much an October ritual with Chicagoans: with the first gust of cold air, which inevitably comes two days after a 90 degree-day, we all start dreaming of when winter will end. But don’t feel too down, because there is a lot to keep your mind off of the weather here at Erie Family Health Center!

Erie held its first ever health fair at Erie Helping Hands this month. Check out the details and pictures below, and we hope you will join us next year! Be sure to take a look at Who’s Who @ Erie to read about Lynnette Suarez’s trip to Washington D.C. and the award that came back with her! And don’t forget to Think Pink this October during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Read more below about prevention in and out of the exam room in Erie Health Tips.

Want an excuse to get out and about the city? Be sure to save the date for Erie’s upcoming event, Salud and the City, being held Thursday, February 24, 2011 at LaSalle Power Company! Join Erie to help make Chicago healthier. Check out the exclusive video here! Tickets go on sale next month!

Still can’t get enough of Erie? Be sure to follow our blog, Beats Per Minute, for the latest happenings, events and news at Erie and in our community. All this and more can be found in October 2010 E-Spotlight!

Beats this week: 

1) While this might not be surprising to some, here’s a piece that is most definitely good news: Illinois Health Connect saved Illinois millions in FY2008! This program, which links Medicaid patients with a medical home, where treatment and patient referrals are coordinated centrally, saved Illinois approximately $140 million, according to the Robert Graham Center.

2) And now here is more good news! Illinois has just begun providing new high-risk insurance pools for individuals with pre-existing conditions who are without medical covered. The program, Illinois Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan, was implemented as part of health care reform and works on a first come, first serve basis.  

3) Have you been eating your leafy green veggies lately? Well, if not then you should! According to a study released recently by the University of Leicester, people who add more green leafy vegetables to their diet may significantly reduce their risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Bring on the spinach!  

4) In a sign that the recession is continuing to hit home for Illinois families, birth rates in Illinois have dropped by approximately 5% according the data made available by the Illinois Department of Public Health and the National Center for Health Statistics. The results compare birth data from similar months in 2007 and 2009.

5) And finally to round out Health Beats this week, let’s talk about eggs. Are you unsure what eggs were recalled? Want to keep up to date on all the recent news related to the egg recall to ensure you throw out recalled eggs? Then be sure to check out these links for the latest news and updates.   

Beats this week:

1) In September you will begin to see health clinics in Targets throughout Chicago and the suburbs. This announcement follows the expansion of health clinics in CVS and Walgreens stores across the country. 

2) Earlier this week, community health centers received some exciting news: the Corporation for National and Community Service decided to fully fund the Community HealthCorps at the requested level for the very first time. With uninsured patient visits up by 21% at community health centers, the $6 million in funding for Community HealthCorps will help to meet this intense demand for care.

3) Celebrity chefs recently took on a challenge: they ate lunch at public schools in the DC area. Through this experience they all came to the same conclusion: schools lunches lacked nutrition, variety and taste. Now months later, these chefs are taking action by teaching cooking classes to students and parents and getting on the front lines for the First Lady’s Let’s Move! Initiative.

4) We are a little late to the news on this one but last month Australian researchers released a study that found a link between diabetes and family history. The study was fairly basic: they took families with and without history of diabetes and overfed them. The results were very interesting, with those with a family history gaining more weight on average and demonstrating a greater resistance to insulin.

5) This week Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the release of $83.9 million in grants to support the expansion of health information technology. Erie was thrilled to be among the list of grant recipients, accepting on behalf of the Alliance of Chicago Community Health Services.

Beats this week:

1) School vending machines could see a drastic change to their contents in the near future. A provision of the Children Nutrition Act passed by the U.S. Senate would allow for regulation of the food served in the school, as well as the vending machines. Crispy edamame, bananas and flavored organic water could be some of the items available in school vending machines.

2) Over ten days has passed since the Illinois Legislature adjourned without passing a budget for the state. So the question remains, what is left to be debated? Progress Illinois breaks it down for us here.

3) Researchers at Harvard released a study this week that claims exposure to pesticides may increase the occurrence of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in children. Specifically, the researchers found that relatively low-level exposure to common pesticides –probably from residues on foods – doubles the risk of developing ADHD.

4) The Health section of the New York Times featured a story this week about a physicians group in Philadelphia that provides primary care using a patient and prevention centered model, called patient-centered medical homes. The overall theme of the article: changing the way primary care is provided is difficult and expensive but it is absolutely necessary.

5) The debate on whether cell phones cause cancer still continues this week with the release of a study funded by the United Nations, which had inconclusive results according to most experts. While the study did find a minimal link between cell phone use and a rare form of brain cancer, the researchers concluded that because cancer can take years and decades to develop – sometimes longer than cell phones have been around– it is difficult to completely ascertain all of the risks. And the debate continues…

Beats this week:

1) Last week, the Illinois Legislature adjourned without passing a budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1.  Despite the lack of consensus, Governor Quinn says that lawmakers are close to passing a new budget. Meanwhile, vendors across the state, including schools and universities, are unsure of how to plan for the upcoming fiscal year without a state budget in place.

2) A study recently released suggests that it is not uncommon for patients to receive inaccurate or confusing Spanish translations from pharmacies when they pick up their prescriptions. This can lead to improper administration of medications.

3) Celebrity chef Rachael Ray made her way to Capitol Hill this week to talk with legislators about improving the quality of school lunches. Ray’s visit also included a visit to the White House to take a look at the First Lady’s garden.

4) Speaking of the First Lady, Michelle Obama released the guidelines this week for her childhood obesity prevention program, Let’s Move! Some highlights include placing an emphasis on maintaining a healthy weight during pregnancy and urging restaurants to consider more moderate portion sizes.

5) This week is National Women’s Health Week, which is an observance that aims to empower women to make health their top priority. Check out some information from Erie partner Northwestern Memorial Hospital about the importance of this week.

Beats this week:

1) Months ago, Beats Per Minute wrote about how health care reform would strain the already existing primary care shortage in the United States. This week, the Associated Press also discussed the issue.

2) Modern Healthcare featured the Thomson Reuters 100 Top Hospitals, which included Erie’s long-standing partner, Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Other Chicago hospitals recognized include Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center and Rush University Medical Center.

3) While Republicans vowed that they would repeal health care reform, it seems that most have backed off from that sentiment over concerns that it might negatively impact the GOP in the November elections.

4) What’s better than eating chocolate for fun? Eating chocolate because it might reduce your risk of having a heart attack or stroke! German researchers concluded this week that individuals who consumed around six grams of chocolate a day had a 39 percent lower risk of either a heart attack or stroke. The researchers stated, though, that it was too early to start making recommendations for individuals to consume daily amounts of chocolate.

5) H1N1 is still going strong in some parts of the country. This week, the CDC and Surgeon General reported that the Southeast, mainly Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina, are experiencing an uptick in cases of H1N1.

Last night we sat around our television screens, anxiously waiting for an historic moment to occur and we were not disappointed. With members of the House chanting “Yes we can!” millions around our country felt relief: comprehensive health care reform had finally passed. This was a truly historical moment for the entire country and particularly for the millions of uninsured individuals who will now be afforded access to health insurance.  

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will make its way to the President’s desk on Tuesday for his signature of this momentous legislation. The Reconciliation Act of 2010 will also move to the Senate this week for approval. After both of these steps are completed, health care reform can begin to be enacted.

But what happens then? The full text of the bill is around 2,400 pages so it is doubtful that many Americans have read the bill from cover to cover (Who has that kind of time?). Look no further! Now that change has come to America, here is a summary of what changes will actually occur for everyday Americans.

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Beats this week:

1) A study published recently in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that a $1 increase in the cost of soda (one liter) translated into significant health benefits, including 2.34 pounds in decreased weight and improvement in the risk of heart disease. This study was released just as New York begins a final push for a soda tax.

2) Did you know that today is National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. It is a day to recognize the special risks HIV/AIDS poses for women and girls, and to raise awareness of the disease’s increasing impact on them. In 2007, more than a quarter of HIV those diagnosed with HIV were women.

3) President Obama has continued his push to pass health care reform in the upcoming weeks, keeping to his commitment of March 18. Congress, however, seems to be on a different page than the President, with many contentious issues, such as abortion, still left unresolved.

4) Today in Springfield, Governor Pat Quinn gave a speech on the current state budget crisis and his proposed FY11 budget. In sum, Quinn plans to use five strategies to ease the fiscal crisis: cutting spending, strategic borrowing, maximizing federal assistance, new jobs and increasing revenues. His speech included a plea for a 1% increase in income taxes in order to fund education at the current levels. 

5) Researchers have discovered that the HIV virus can hide in bone marrow cells and eventually turn into blood cells. This research explains why patients need to follow strict medication adherence, even if the virus is absent from their blood cells. Eventually, researchers believe that this finding will allow them to develop better medications to treat the disease in the blood and other parts of the body, including bone marrow.