CenterPieceCOMMUNITY NEWSLETTER March 2015

SUCCESSFUL REACHCenter’s numbers for

2014 paint a remarkable picture for the community.

PATIENT PROFILEMom thrilled her

daughter is receiving care for her painful skin condition.

BUSY, BUT NOT TOOVolunteer Steven

Hogwood finds serving on board satisfying work.

Opening the door

to HEALTH CARE for all

@ Center for Family HealthCenterforFamilyHealth.org

CFH PARTNERSHIP

Allegiance, Center proud of collaborationThe partnership between Allegiance Health and the Center for Family Health has traveled a long, winding — and mutually satisfying — road.

During their almost 25-year relationship, each has been the other’s landlord, one helped create the other, and today the two health-care entities are partners in providing current — and future — access to care for the area’s most vulnerable citizens.

More than 25 years ago, Allegiance — then known as Foote Hospital — was on board when the concept of starting a prenatal center for women without insurance emerged from the Infant Mortality Task Force. The task force was researching possible solutions to the county’s alarmingly high infant-mortality rates.

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One pregnant woman a day was being transferred from Foote’s Emergency Room to the University of Michigan because she hadn’t had prenatal care and the baby was in distress, said Georgia Fotjasek, Allegiance president & CEO.

“It was just stunning,” she said. “It rivaled a third-world situation.”

The Center for Healthy Beginnings — a prenatal clinic, which was the roots of today’s Center for Family Health — opened in 1991 at a building on W. High Street.

“Allegiance was committed to making the prenatal clinic successful,” said Molly Kaser, Center president & CEO.

Once Community Action Agency stepped up to sponsor the clinic, Allegiance helped with the recruitment of the Center’s first obstetrician, paid for malpractice insurance, and voted to allow certified nurse midwives to have privileges at the hospital, Kaser said.

A few years after the prenatal clinic was up and running, family medicine services were added; not

1

Hundreds turn to Marketplace to find health insuranceFor the second year in a row, hundreds Jackson County households turned to the Center for Family Health to help them sign up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.Enrollment for 2015 ended Feb. 15, and at peak times appointments with certified navigators were booked solid at the Center’s Health Insurance Marketplace office at 407 N. Jackson Street.“We were super-packed, and we stayed until 9 o’clock one night,” said Danielle Carpenter, outreach and enrollment coordinator. “Another time, we came in on a Saturday.”Enrollment began in November, and by Feb. 15, the Center for Family Health had helped guide more than 910 applicants in the sometimes-confusing process of buying insurance through the government Marketplace. Those applications provided coverage to 1,072 people.

Navigators also answered questions and sorted out options, either in person or over the telephone, for hundreds of people who filed their own applications.Help from the navigators is free and available to everyone. Most clients assisted were not Center for Family Health patients.“We don’t want any barriers to people getting enrolled in care, so we keep our enrollment services open to all,” said Molly Kaser, president and CEO of the Center for Family Health.Navigators helped Jackson meet the era of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, in late 2013. Marketplace enrollment opened then for the first time for those who buy their own insurance.The Affordable Care Act requires all Americans to have health insurance. Families that previously could not afford health coverage are typically eligible for tax credits to lower the cost.Requests for help were fewer than in the first year, Carpenter said, which stands to reason as enrollees become more used to the system.“Probably 70 percent of the people I saw were renewing coverage,” said Carpenter. Helping families sign up for coverage is not considered a temporary effort by the Center for Family Health. “The navigator program is expected to continue,” Kaser said. “We will utilize portions of our federal grand funding to sustain it. Even with the Affordable Care Act, there will be people who need assistance with Medicaid and Marketplace enrollment.” n

The Center for Family Health is an independent, federally qualified health center that never turns patients away because of inability to pay. It provides comprehensive, quality medical care, dental services and behavioral-health assistance to more than 27,000 patients at its main location in Jackson, four school health centers and a satellite clinic at LifeWays.

Partnership blossoms in many waysAllegiance Health and the Center for Family Health have worked together in unique ways to increase access to care. For example,• The Center opted to join Jackson Community

Medical Records for electronic medical records — instead of the system other community health centers were using — because it recognized that sharing records with Allegiance and local physician specialists was more important for coordinated care for patients, said. Molly Kaser, Center president & CEO.

• Patients who are discharged from Allegiance but have no primary-care physician are referred to the Center for follow-up care, Kaser said.

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Dani Carpenter helps a client review health-insurance options at www.healthcare.gov.

long after that the Center added pediatric and adult medicine services.

By 1995, the Center incorporated and changed its name to the Center for Family Health. Allegiance purchased the building at 817 W. High St. and rented it to the Center. (Today, Allegiance rents space at 505 N. Jackson St. for a diagnostic center, which provides easy access for Center patients.)

In between the Center’s creation and the construction of the new building, Allegiance and the Center’s relationship went through many iterations.

Message from the CEO

Allegiance partnership key to extending Jackson community access to careIn each of our recent editions we’ve focused on organizations with whom we partner to enrich the quality of care that we provide to our patients. These partnerships allow us to reach far beyond our four walls to touch and change lives.

Our partnership with Allegiance Health fits that criterion beautifully. We work together in many ways to improve access to care and to improve the quality of clinical care delivered in Jackson, including:

• Through the residency program in which physicians receive hands-on training;

• Through Allegiance’s hospitalists — physicians who specialize in caring for hospitalized patients so our physicians can concentrate on caring for patients in the office;

• Through the Health Improvement Organization or HIO in which many community members and organizations come together to address health issues;

Molly KaserPresident & CEO

• Through shared use of a single electronic medical record for family physicians and specialists — this streamlines referrals and continuity of care.

Allegiance has been and remains a crucial partner for our health center, and we salute its leadership for recognizing that together we can accomplish much more than working alone. n

Executive Staff

Molly Kaser | President & CEOSara Benedetto | Vice President & COOE. Dale Ernst, Jr. | Vice President & CFOSangeeta Sinha, MD, FACOG | Chief Medical OfficerSharon Rouse, DO | Primary Care Medical DirectorKim Hinkle | Quality Improvement DirectorRebecca Snow | Human Resources Director

Board of Directors

Ted Hilleary | Board ChairJeanne’ Wickens | Board Vice ChairSteven Hogwood | Board TreasurerLori Heiler | Board SecretaryJerry Grannan | Immediate Past Board Chair Kirk BalcomSuzi FinchLee HamptonR. Dale Moretz

Providers

Chiquita Berg, MDJerry Booth, DDS, MSMatthew Bruce, DOMohammad Ghali, MD, MPHElliot Hardy, DDSMonica Hill, MDRose Johnson, MDSamira Haque, DDSSarah Malinda, DDSEdward Mathein, DDSMiraflor Reyes-Ganzon, MDNavira Rizwan, MD

William PattersonBrenda PilgrimJennifer White

Sharon Rouse, DOPromita Roychoudhury, MDSangeeta Sinha, MDGregory Trompeter, DDSDana Virgo, MDJames Williams, MDAmy Anglin, FNPAshley Brady, PA-CRoberta Brandt, PA-CLiz Findley, NPShawn Heiler, PA-CDenise Provencher, PA-CBridget Thomas, FNP

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Allegiance and Center leaders agree: The partnership works because all acknowledge its benefit to the community, providing more access to care. The two are not in competition; their goal is to complement each other and rely on each’s strengths.

In fact, the relationship has been used as a model for other federally qualified health centers, Kaser said. She and others often are invited to speak about how it works.

“The whole story speaks of community and leadership,” Fotjasek said.

“Another major component is trust,” Kaser said. “Governance of both organizations have been stewards of looking at what’s best for the community — looking outside their own walls.”

Perhaps the crown jewel in the lasting partnership between Allegiance and the Center is the Graduate Medical Education Program. In addition to a

@ Center for Family HealthCenterforFamilyHealth.org2

traditional residency program in which doctors move around the specialties, the program – run by Allegiance — relies on the Center to provide family-medicine doctors with patients to see for the three years of a continuity clinic.

The doctors spend up to four and a half days a week, at the Center seeing patients.

“The Center was the logical choice for the resident continuity clinic,” said Pam Royston, administrative director/designated institutional official, Graduate Medical Education at Allegiance. “They are able to assist the Center with a volume of patients in a very cost-effective manner.”

It is ideal for the residents and the patients, she said.

The residents get to practice important skills, such as communication and empathy.

“The patients are very welcoming,” Royston said. “Residents take a little more time with them.”

The underlying goal of the program, in its second year, is to recruit some of its graduates to Jackson. With a national shortage of primary-care physicians, both Allegiance and the Center can benefit from an in-house pipeline of family doctors.

“No one had a vision of what we would have today,” Fotjasek said, recalling the formation of the prenatal clinic. “We can take what happened here to attack other intractable problems in the community.” n

• Center leaders are part of an Allegiance process-improvement team, looking at ways to prevent patients who are discharged from the hospital from being readmitted. “It’s critical to include both the inpatient and outpatient systems when addressing this issue,” said Sara Benedetto. Center vice president & COO.

• On the behavioral-health side, the Center, Allegiance and LifeWays are working at better transitions from in-patient to outpatient care, she said.

• The two share patients. “Our relationship with Allegiance is crucial,” said Dr. Sangeeta Sinha, the Center’s chief medical officers. “It’s critical for us to function effectively to take care of our patients. They collaborate with us on access to specialists. We deliver our babies there.” Half of the Center’s Ob/Gyn work is at the hospital, she said.

• Hospitalists (physicians who work at Allegiance) see Center patients at the hospital, freeing Center doctors for more patient office visits, said Dr. Sharon Rouse, primary-care medical director at the Center. “The hospitalists are knowledgeable, great to work with,” she said. n

[Above] Dr. Scott Shelton shares his patient notes with Dr. Brittany Williamson, who works with Dr. Shelton and other resident doctors. [Below left] Dr. Danny Nguyen adjusts Michael Glow, a patient who is experiencing lower back pain. Dr. Nguyen is an osteopathic physician, doing his clinical residency at the Center. [Below center] Dr. Tiffany Sayles, a resident physician at the Center, listens to the heart rate of a patient who has stomach pain. [Below right] Dr. Shawn Lazoff checks patient’s Rhonda Sharp’s vital signs. He is a resident in the Family Medicine Continuity Clinic.

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Young child found relief from skin conditionBefore she found the Center for Family Health, Sabrina Washington felt like she went in circles trying to find help for her little girl.

Her daughter, a 3-year-old named Diamond, developed a painful, chronic skin condition in infancy. Eczema covers 90 percent of Diamond’s body, making many childhood activities difficult.

“I hate that for her,” said Sabrina. “She’s only 3 and she does not understand.”

No one knows what caused Diamond’s skin condition, but the results are serious.

Diamond’s skin is always itchy, and she must be frequently reminded not to scratch. She takes many medications and often cries from pain. Standing under a shower hurts her. She cannot go outdoors when it’s too hot in the summer or too cold in the winter. She cannot go to Head Start.

The family formally lived in Marshall, where doctors tried different things but seemed, in Sabrina’s view, not to take the case seriously enough. Once, she said, a doctor suggested not giving baths to Diamond.

“Can you imagine that? Not bathing an active 2-year-old?” Sabrina said. “I was going in circles with this. We were at home suffering with our baby.”

Things changed after Sabrina and her four children came to Jackson, at first staying at the AWARE Shelter. At the shelter, Sabrina learned about the Center for Family Health.

When she saw the Center’s three-story building in downtown Jackson, she thought it was too big for

PATIENT PROFILE

Sabrina Washington is thrilled her daughter, Diamond, is getting help for her eczema.

her tastes. “At first I didn’t think I’d like it, with all those floors and everything going on,” Sabrina said.

Sabrina was told she could choose a smaller setting at a Center for Family Health school clinic. She chose the Northeast Health Center and is glad she did. “I love them there,” Sabrina said. “They’re nice people, and they listen to you.”

Most importantly, she said, the Center for Family Health recognized that Diamond needs the best medical help available.

Diamond was sent to a skin specialist in Spring Arbor, who referred her to the dermatology department of the University of Michigan Hospital. At first, there was some difficulty getting Diamond admitted.

“They (at the Center for Family Health) said we’ll get them on the phone and straighten them out,” Sabrina said. “Thank God, they got her into U of M.”

Diamond goes to Ann Arbor once a month for treatment. She wears a “sauna suit,” must take bleach baths, and has more than a dozen prescriptions.

There is no easy cure, but Sabrina said her daughter’s skin is less painful for about two weeks after her treatments.

“They really steered me in the right direction,” said Sabrina. “I was just thrilled. I really, really love the Center for Family Health at Northeast.” n

Statistics reflectCenter’s health-care story for 2014

Total number of patients Total number of dental patients Total number of dental visits

Number of babies delivered Percentage of low birth-weight babies(Lower the better)

Women in first trimester who entered prenatal care(Higher the better)

Patients with diabetes well controlled(AIC 9 or less)

Prescriptions filled

*Center Pharmacy opened July 1, 2011

2009

2013

2014

24,783

27,162

27,290

8,618

10,445

9,852

18,871

20,671

21,432

2009

2013

2014

449

531

584

3.0%

7.9%

6.3%

77%

86%

84%

68.6%

77%

79.5%

95,722

100,902

*n/a

For more statistics about the Center’s performance in 2014, visit CenterforFamilyHealth.org and click on 2014 Annual Report.

“I was going in circles with this. We were at home suffering with our baby.”Sabrina WashingtonCFH patient parent

Jackson, Michigan CenterforFamilyHealth.org

Center for Family Health 505 N. Jackson St.517-748-5500

Jackson High Health Center 544 Wildwood Ave.517-780-0838

Northeast Health Center 1024 Fleming Ave.517-787-4361

Parkside Health Center2400 Fourth St.517-788-6812

Northwest Community Health Center6700 Rives Junction Road517-569-3200

Center for Family Health at LifeWays1200 N. West Ave.517-796-4550

Locations

Physician moves to different Center location

News in Brief

Steven Hogwood is a busy man.

He is the owner of Jackson-area McDonald’s restaurants and volunteers as a member of numerous boards, including the Center for Family Health.

He particularly enjoys the 10 years he has spent on the Center board. He is the board treasurer, chairs the Finance/Facilities Committee and serves on the Executive Compensation Committee.

“I feel like when I come here, I’m getting something done,” Hogwood said. “I personally can make a difference.”

Since the Center is a federally qualified health center, it must have patients on its board. For Hogwood, that is an important distinction.

“They are consumers of the service — they touch and feel what I don’t touch and feel,” he said.

As a result of the insight of the patient board members, “we’re dealing with real-life issues. People coming here go to work every day, and they are trying to get their child help with an earache,” Hogwood said.

The Center board doesn’t just talk about the problem of getting a child with an earache seen quickly, its members come up with solutions, he said.

Those real-life problems hit Hogwood every day. As an employer of about 650 people — most of whom are women with children — he often has employees calling to say they can’t come to work because of a sick child.

Steven Hogwood’s message is simple:‘Center is here for your benefit’

.

Dr. Massoudi joins Center dental teamDr. Christie Massoudi, DMD, is seeing patients at the Center for Family Health’s downtown facility.

She has a bachelor’s in neuroscience from the University of Michigan and a Doctor of Dental Medicine degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine.

Dr. Massoudi previously worked at the UPMC Presbyterian/Shadyside Dental Center in Pittsburgh. She is a member of the American Dental Association, Pennsylvania Dental Association, Student National Dental Association and American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry Club. n

A Center for Family Health provider now is caring for patients at a different Center location.

Dr. Twanda Crawford-Johnson, a family-medicine specialist, is practicing at the Center for Family Health at LifeWays. n

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“I am concerned with health,” he said. “If my employees are not healthy, they can’t come to work. That affects my business.”

For that reason, Hogwood has encouraged his employees to use the Center for preventive primary care, and he has welcomed Center enrollment specialists into his restaurants to help his employees sort out their insurance options.

Hogwood has helped the Center in other ways. He filmed a 30-second TV spot, asking for donations to the Center. It ran on various cable networks in December.

His message is simple: “The Center is here for your benefit. We need you. We need your financial support. You are making a mistake not to give.”

Some people are dying because they aren’t getting health care, he said, or they can’t smile because their teeth are severely decayed. Those people are helped every day at the Center for Family Health, Hogwood said.

“I believe if you believe in something, you will support it,” he said. “We have to get people to fall in love with this place. We’re close to

the action here every day.”

Hogwood has followed his own advice, occasionally helping the Center financially.

But it is his work on the board that is his passion.

“I like to see things done. It’s part of my personality,” he said. “This is not work for me.” n

“I like to see things done. It’s part of my personality. This is not work for me.”Steven HogwoodCFH Volunteer

CFH is supported by ongoing donors, including:

Rebecca Snow has joined the Center for Family Health team as human resources director.

She supervises all human-resources activities and reports to Molly Kaser, president and CEO.

Snow has extensive experience in human resources through Catholic Health Partners in Toledo, Ohio, and Mercy St. Charles Hospital in Oregon, Ohio. In addition, she served as finance director and human resources manager for the city of Defiance, Ohio.

She has a bachelor’s in political science and Spanish from Bowling

Green State University, and a master’s in public administration from Bowling Green. n

Capital Campaign under wayDonations are being accepted for the Center for Family Health’s capital campaign, earmarked for the Center’s new dental facility and a new satellite medical clinic in Hillsdale.

You can donate by sending a check to the Center at 505 N. Jackson St., with capital campaign in the message field, or go to www.centerforfamilyhealth.org and click on DONATE NOW at the top, right of the page. n

• Crawford-Johnson

Center adds new HR positionCFH @ LifeWays

Balcom joins the Center Board of Directors

Kirk Balcom, a principal in enterprise risk management with Rehmann in Jackson, recently was named to the Center for Family Health’s Board of Directors.

For eight years, Balcom has shared his financial expertise with the Center, serving on the Center’s Finance and Facilities

Committee. During his tenure, the downtown facility at 505 N. Jackson St. was planned and built. n