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

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!

Beats this week:

1) Over the summer, many children who normally received free or reduced lunch from their school now find themselves with less to eat. Check out this great story about some local food pantries that are attempting to meet the need to feed Chicagoland children during the summer. And the bonus is that they are super healthy lunches!

2) Today, Health and Human Services Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius announced a new $250 million investment that will aim to develop new medical providers. This program, which was created using Affordable Care Act funds, will help ease the shortage of primary care providers by training and developing nearly 16,000 new medical providers over the next five years.

3) More sad news for the state of Illinois: for the second time in a little more than a week, the credit rating for Illinois has been downgraded due to the state’s inability to balance the budget. Currently, the only state with a worse rating than Illinois is California.

4)  In April, Health Beats reported on an announcement of a plan from the FDA that would reduce the amount of salt consumed by Americans. Well, nearly two months later over one dozen major US food companies have announced they will voluntarily reduce the level of salt in the foods they produce. That’s right, in the next few years you can expect to see the sodium levels decrease in Heinz ketchup!

5) Key delegations in the American Medical Association called for revisions to the AMA’s endorsement of health care reform this week. Specifically, these delegations would like the AMA to revise its stance on Medicare payment cuts, raise the doctor payment for Medicaid and enact sweeping liability reform.

We’ve heard the chants of “Yes, we can!”  We watched health care reform pass through the House of Representatives and the Senate.  Above all, we’ve had a magic number tattooed in our minds since the first whisper of health care reform came out of Washington.  32 million.  32 million people that, once the health care reform package comes to fruition in 2014, would be able to enter into a physician’s office without financial fear.

The idea of just handing out health insurance to those in need of it seems wonderful.  Unfortunately, it isn’t that simple.  In a way, it’s like giving everyone in Chicago a free CTA pass for one day.   You may have the means to ride the El, but if the train is full, you’re not going anywhere.   The same idea goes for health care.  In April, Dr. Francis blogged on Beats Per Minute about the shortage of primary care doctors available to care for this surge of now-insured patients and how community health centers could be the new training ground for upcoming generations of primary care doctors.  Also back in April, Health Beats blogged about the upcoming physician shortage, as well as the possibility of reducing some of the restrictions on nurse practitioners to help lessen the blow of incoming health care demand surge.

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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…

With all the buzz about health care reform, the curious are asking: What does the new law mean for community health centers like Erie?  Some even wonder if the need for community health centers will vanish. In honor of National Public Health Week, Beats Per Minute is breaking down the ins and outs of health care reform and what it will mean for community health centers around the country.

Millions more to seek primary care by 2014

With the ink of President Obama’s signature barely dry on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a transformation is about to happen over the next decade.  For the first time in our country’s history, there will be a major effort to make health insurance available to almost all Americans – nearly 32 million will be added to the health insurance rolls. 

Most community health centers like Erie care for high volumes of patients without insurance (34% at Erie) or covered by Medicaid (62% at Erie). Medicaid is the federal-state partnership to provide health care coverage for those living at the federal poverty level or below.  Starting in 2014, some 16 million more people  will become eligible for Medicaid as the income limits to qualify are raised from 100% of the federal poverty level (about $22,000 per year for a family of 4) to 133% of the federal poverty level (about $30,000 per year for a family of 4). 

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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.

Beats this week:

1)  Today, the Chicago Tribune covered health care reform and its potential impact on low-income individuals in Chicago. Erie Family Health Center and other community health agencies were featured in the story by Judith Graham.

2) Four community health centers in Milwaukee received $1 million from GE to increase primary care services to uninsured and underinsured individuals. This is the second city to receive GE Developing Health funding – a three-year program providing funding to health centers.

3) According to a new report, one in four Californians under the age of 65 are without health insurance.  In the last two years, the state’s number of uninsured individuals has increased by nearly 2 million. Despite these alarming statistics, California does not actually have the highest rate of uninsured but follows closely behind Texas.

4) The story of health care reform continues to unfold. Currently, the Obama administration is putting the pressure on for House Democrats to give the green light on health care. Rep. Dennis Kucinich is the most recent Democrat to ‘flip’ their vote from ‘no’ to ‘yes.’

5) Public Health Officials in Lake County (northern Illinois) have partnered with local churches to make a final push for H1N1 vaccination. Read Beats Per Minute’s coverage on why it is still important to get vaccinated this late in the flu season.

Beats this week:

1) Over the weekend, patients began lining up before dawn at a dentist office in the Logan Square community of Chicago to receive free dental care. The annual event, which is hosted by Dentists With Heart, drew a line of several hundred people.

2) This week, the New York Times reported that after an extended quiet period, the U.S. is finally seeing a surge in medical schools. Could this be a response to the need for primary care providers? Beats Per Minute discussed this very issue last month.

3) Wondering why no one is talking about H1N1 anymore? The Centers for Disease Control is! The CDC says that H1N1 cases are down but reported that from April 2009 through January 2010, the U.S. saw 57 million possible cases, 257,000 hospitalizations and 11,690 deaths.

4) A study released this week found that over the last three decades chronic conditions have significantly increased in children. In fact, from 1994 to 2006 the percentage of children with chronic conditions, such as asthma, obesity and behavioral health issues, nearly doubled. The highest rates of chronic conditions were found in Latino and African American children.

5) It was announced this week that two Illinois universities will receive federal stimulus money to invest in electronic medical records technology. Last month, Erie Family Health Center completed the implementation of electronic health records at all of our nine sites. Read about it here!