As our new Director of Community Education, Elise Blasingame, LMSW,   works to empower consumers in the areas of healthcare, personal finance and consumer energy. She brings experience from The Carter Center, where she conducted research and implemented programming for both the Mental Health Program and Global Access to Information Initiative. Her work at The Carter Center focused on promoting access to essential health resources and information necessary for economic empowerment within developing contexts, particularly in Liberia, West Africa. Elise is an Atlanta native and returned to Georgia in 2012 after earning two degrees and serving communities in the State of New York for seven years as an advocate and organizer. 

Elise received her MSW from the University at Buffalo (SUNY) and is licensed in the State of Georgia. She holds a B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University, where she focused on issues pertaining to inequality and human rights. Elise has extensive experience in community organizing and program evaluation in the fields of economic justice, women's welfare, and LGBTQ rights.  

Beginning in September, Elise will be available to conduct Consumer Empowerment Workshops. Contact Elise if you are interested in scheduling a workshop.

Georgia Watch's Health Access Program (HAP) is proud to announce that it has been selected as one of eight national testing sites for a community benefit web tool being developed by Community Catalyst's Hospital Accountability Project and The George Washington University Department of Health Policy, School of Public Health and Health Services. This web tool will enable individuals and organizations to easily review and compare nonprofit hospital community benefit expenditures reported annually to the IRS on the Form 990 Schedule H.  

All nonprofit hospitals are obligated to invest in the health and well-being of their communities as a condition of their tax-exempt status.  However, it is difficult to access information about these investments and compare hospital expenditures. This information is important to community leaders, advocates and organizations interested in partnering with nonprofit hospitals to improve health outcomes and build wellness programs. 

This type of hospital accountability work has long been of interest to Georgia Watch and the consumers that we serve. "We are excited about the opportunity to partner with Community Catalyst to test a tool that will help keep hospitals accountable to their communities," said HAP Director Beth Stephens.  

We currently are seeking other health advocates and community partners to help us test the prototype tool. Please contact Beth if you or your organization is interested.