LACHC Thanks...
Supervisor Gloria Molina and her Health Deputy,
Amy Luftig-Viste, our Board Member, Lisa Proft, Esq., and the LAC/USC Medical Center
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for their assistance with securing a donated ultrasound machine, which will be used primarily to provide prenatal care at the Pico Aliso Community Clinic.
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Wayne's World
Tip #5
Forgot your
New Year's Resolutions?
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You might increase your commitment by: Being specific, write
it down, have a friend hold you accountable and start very small, but BEGIN.
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Did You Know?
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The concept of national health insurance began in the early
1900s. However, not until the Social Security Act of 1965 was Medicare signed
into law on July 30, 1965, by President Lyndon B. Johnson as amendments
to Social Security
legislation.
|  At the bill-signing
ceremony President Johnson enrolled former President Harry S.
Truman as the first Medicare beneficiary and presented him with the
first Medicare card, and his wife Bess, the second.
Social Security History, the
United States Social Security Administration
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Greetings!
In this issue, we celebrate successes at our Pico Aliso clinic and introduce two new sections: Did You Know? Facts about healthcare in general or about our clinics, and an article section called: Stories of Hope. Discussions at both the Board and staff retreats led to telling stories that offer a glimpse of how God is working. We hope these stories inspire you as they have us. Also in President's Pulse, our President and CEO responds to the passage of health care reform.
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Pico Aliso Community Clinic
Reasons to Celebrate!
Recently the clinic received Child Health and Disability
Prevention (CHDP) certification. This is a preventive program that delivers
periodic health assessments and services to low income children and youth in
California.
Also, as members of a health plan we are required to go through periodic site evaluations to ensure standards are met and our patients are receiving
excellent care according to the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS).
These evaluations review the care of the patients as well as our facilities. At
our most recent evaluation we were told by the auditor, "I have never been to a
clinic so well organized."
As evidenced by our audit results, high quality, thoughtful healthcare
is provided at Pico Aliso Community Clinic, despite very limited resources,
because of the staff's commitment to excellence.
Our clinic staff is highly skilled, experienced and compassionate. Our
wonderful support staff has over 23 years (combined) of community clinic
experience. The Medical Assistants are multi-skilled allied health cEsteban Sarabia, PA-C and Dr. Brent
 | are professionals moving effortlessly between Front Office and Back Office duties.
Our medical providers include: Esteban Sarabia, PA-C, a physician assistant who
has been on staff with LACHC since 2002; Dr. Katy White whose leadership and
experience in a community clinic working with the urban underserved has been a great addition along with Dr. Dina Brent who has been a pediatrician for more
than thirty years. Way to go team!
By Sherieda Stewart, NP, Nursing Director
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Stories of Hope
There was a lady, Diane* (name has been changed) who lived
in a box in front of the clinic with her dog. When I first started working at
the clinic, I talked to and prayed with her every morning.
After awhile I didn't see her anymore for a long time. Then
about a year ago, Diane came into the clinic to see one of our medical
providers. She saw me and said, "Hi! Remember me?" I didn't recognize her; she
was all cleaned up. She said, "It's me, Diane." I looked at her face for a few
minutes, and then I remembered her. I said, "You used to live in front of the
clinic with your little dog." She said, "Yeah, it's me." She told me she went
to rehab. She thanked me for praying for her. She said, "People always walked by,
but you always stopped and prayed for me... and I will never forget how you cared
for me."
~Story told by Lisa Padilla
Lisa Padilla in the Dispensary at Joshua House
Lisa Padilla is our Dispensary Clerk; her primary role
is to prepare prescriptions for the nurses to give to patients and to keep the
dispensary organized. She began working at LACHC in January 2005.
More stories can be found out on our website:
If you would like to submit a story, email Allison Lo: alo@lachc.com or stop by her office on the 3rd floor of Joshua House. |
President's Pulse
 Health Care Reform is
here. I can't remember a national issue that has polarized and driven
such a
large number of people: riots at town hall meetings, vandalism of
legislator
offices and homes, verbal outbursts during sessions of Congress. I am
stuck in
the middle. As an employer I see the probable rise in cost of the
healthcare I
provide. As a safety net provider I see the increase in revenues to my
organization. Will these bills increase the costs of healthcare?
Probably. Will
my taxes increase? Possibly. Will more people in this country have
healthcare?
Absolutely.
As Christians, we are
to consider the needs of others as more important than our own, and we
are to
love our neighbor as we love ourselves (Mark 12:33). Therefore, we must
not
hold onto our own rights and interests at the cost of excluding others.
As a Christian Health
Center we must care about others' needs more than our own (Acts 20:35).
Health Care Reform from that perspective is a positive step toward
taking better care of the poor, elderly and sick among us.
In
the words of
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), "This
legislation
provides enough funding so that we are going to create... 8,000 new
health center sites, more than
doubling the number that now exists. We are going to increase access for
primary health care, dental care, mental health counseling, and low-cost
prescription drugs by doubling the number of Americans with access to
community
health centers from 20 million to 40 million... That is a huge step
forward in providing basic health care to millions of Americans who
today
cannot access that care."
In that I can rejoice
and be glad!
Susan K. Fuentes
President and CEO
In
order to have more
- desire less. ~Anonymous
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