Second National
Conference on
Quality Health Care for Culturally Diverse Populations:
Strategy and Action for Communities, Providers, and a Changing Health
System
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Second National
Conference on |
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| October 11-14, 2000 |
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Wed., October 11 | Th., October 12 | Fr., October 13 | Sat., October 14 | Poster Presentations | ||||||||
3-7. Diversity And A Changing Health Economy: Specific Challenges Facing Rural AreasCultural Competence: Challenges & Rewards This presentation focuses on challenges and successful strategies in providing culturally competent care to a diverse refugee population. The Fargo-Moorhead community is home to approximately 4,000 resettled refugees with as many as 15 different cultures represented. Family HealthCare Center (FHC) is the primary clinic for this population. FHC was recently recognized by HRSA with a Certificate of Excellence in the Cultural Competence Works competition. This presentation will provide information on health needs and care delivery strategies that demonstrate a proactive response to working with multiple cultures. An overview of organizational strategies supporting cultural competence will be shared. Discussion will include costs of services and funding challenges in providing care. Sherlyn Dahl, RN, MPH is the Executive Director of the Family HealthCare Center. She has a Masters in Public Health and is a Registered Nurse. She has worked in the field of Public Health for the past 18 years. Sherlyn planned and coordinated the development of the Health Services Center, which provides health care services for homeless people. Seven years ago Sherlyn authored and administered a Section 330 Community Health Care Center grant to start a primary care program to improve access to health care for underserved people in Cass and Clay Counties. Sherlyn is committed to the coordination of broad-based community services to address the multiple needs of high-risk populations.
A Rural Perspective on the Integration of Private Practice Physicians into a CHC Model As the numbers of uninsured swell by 100,000 on a monthly basis, the pressure on private practices to continue seeing these patients is beginning to have an impact on our communities. Doctors are watching the health care system change before their very eyes and questioning the viability of their businesses. If they pull out, our problems worsen. In Southern Colorado, Valley-Wide Health Services has found a niche in the market by managing practices that have turned into underserved, underinsured and uninsured populations. With a 24-year history of providing care to these populations, Valley-Wide has been invited into four different and distinct communities to assist private practices in crisis. This places Community Health Centers in a very different negotiating stance and one that elevates our status as we pull in new allies to join in the movement of doing something radical to care for the uninsured. We know that we cannot address the growing problem alone and marked impact will have to include those who have usually sat comfortably on the sidelines. Understanding and dealing with the culture of poverty involves coming to terms with the compassion and empathy that pulled most physicians into the field in the first place. Our management services begin with some basic cultural competency training that includes the recognition of poor people in our communities, why people become poor and the role a civilized society has in providing a basic level of primary health care to its citizens. Converting existing systems usually set up to keep patients out into one that is more responsive takes more than signage. Community Health Centers can play a central role in elevating our issues to another level by working with private physicians as allies. We've done it in medical education through our residency programs, we've impacted Congress to make sure we're never too far from their allocations list and but as long as we are only impacting 11 million out of the 33 million uninsured, we must look to other providers for assistance. This workshop would provide transferable techniques including take home tools for converting compensation plans, re-engineering scheduling protocols to get patients in instead of keeping them out, funding strategies, and basic community development 101. Marguerite Salazar is the President/CEO of Valley Wide Health Services, Inc., a community health center that provides primary care to over 30,000 residents and 120,000 medical encounter to the people of the San Luis, Lower Arkansas and Upper Arkansas Valleys in Southern Colorado. Valley Wide Health Services is a federally funded Section 330/329-community/migrant-health center that has been in operation for over 24 years. VWHS is recognized for exceptional outcomes with prenatal care and adolescent health outreach programs for patients residing in some of the poorest areas of Colorado. Before assuming her current position, Ms. Salazar directed a firm contracting with local public health departments, hospitals and nursing homes to provide social work services. In addition, she has experience working with mental health and substance abuse programs. A 1992 Fellow in the National Hispana Leadership Institute, Ms. Salazar serves as an Honorary Trustee for the Women's Foundation of Colorado and is also a founding member of KRZA, a public radio station serving Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado. She was appointed by Governor Owens to serve as a Policy Board Member for the Colorado Children's Basic Health Plan, holds Board seats on the San Luis Valley HMO, president of the San Luis Valley Hispanic League, San Luis Valley Area Health Education Center (AHEC), San Luis Valley Habitat for Humanity and the Nature Conservancy. In 1999, she was awarded the Bernie Valdez Award for Excellence in Health from the Latin American Research and Service Agency (LARASA). Marguerite is a trained consultant and has contracted with the BPHC to provide assistance in conducting PCER's. Her expertise is in management and governance. She holds a Master's degree in counseling psychology.
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essentials | models
and practices | policy |
legal issues | networking |
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Diversity Rx is sponsored by: |
 The National Conference of State Legislatures |
 Resources for Cross Cultural Health Care |
 Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation |
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