CHF's blog

► September 2010 has been designated National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month to try and shine the spotlight on the growing obesity epidemic among youth in the US.  CHF patient Selena knows that eating fruits will keep her healthy!

►For many students, school begins next week.  Children's Health Fund programs around the nation provide services in their community, bringing medical, dental and mental health services directly to local schools.  Wishing everyone a safe & healthy Labor Day weekend!

Posted by Nurse Kim, Children's Health Fund’s Phoenix Children’s Health Project

My name is Kimberly Williams.   I’ve been a Registered Nurse for 16 years and feel extremely fortunate to have a career that I love so much.  I started working for Phoenix Children’s Hospital in 1994, first working in General Pediatrics and taking care of kids with a variety of health problems.  That experience gave me the confidence to work in the Emergency Department, where I worked as a staff nurse. After 4 years in the ER, I assumed the position of Interim Clinical Nurse Educator.  I loved being an educator, but my passion has always been “helping” children and their families, so you can imagine how excited I was when, two years ago, one of my nurse friends informed me that the “Crews’N Healthmobile” (CHF’s Phoenix Children’s Health Project) had an RN position available.  I applied the day after I found out and a few weeks later, I was boarding the Big Blue Medical Mobile Unit (MMU) for the very first time.   I was warned that this kind of work can take its toll, but since joining the Crews’N Healthmobile, my love for my job has only grown stronger and my passion for nursing has skyrocketed (I can tell you more about that in an upcoming post!).

►This Sunday marks the 5th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.  Immediately after Katrina, CHF Co-Founders Irwin Redlener, MD and Paul Simon, went down to the Gulf to survey the damage and organize a rapid medical response. Five days after the storm, mobile medical units from Children’s Health Fund’s (CHF) national network arrived and began providing medical care.  Since 2005, CHF has established three permanent projects in the Gulf Coast area and continues to care for children and families that are still feeling the effects of the Hurricane.

by Caitlin McFeely, Communications Associate, Children's Health Fund

This Saturday, August 28, marks the 5^th Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.  Shortly after the hurricane ravished the Gulf Coast, CHF’s mobile clinics were on the ground, providing health care for the children and families in the region.  Three permanent Children's Health Fund programs, in New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Mississippi Gulf Coast, were launched and continue to provide health and mental health care to children and families living in the Gulf Coast region today.

Today, we’re talking to Donna Usner, who has been with the New Orleans Children’s Health Project since the program launched after Hurricane Katrina.  Enjoy!

Caitlin (C): Donna, thanks for interviewing with us!  How long have you been working with CHF? 

Donna: I began work with NOCHP not long after Katrina, in 2006.

C: What made you want to work for this type of organization?

Donna: As part of a career goal, I’ve always worked with children and families during a time of crisis. CHF’s work fit with my personal mission. Prior to Katrina, I worked in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at a local hospital that flooded and under great controversy would not reopen. As a result, I was forced to write the next chapter in my life. I met some of the CHF team in Baton Rouge and they talked me into doing a mental health needs assessment for the New Orleans area with the intent to have a Community Support and Resiliency Unit arrive the following spring.

C: What is your favorite part about working on the mobile clinic?

Donna: The mobile clinics I work on are state of the art clinics that truly remove barriers to accessing quality health care (physical and mental health care). The families we meet are my ‘favorite part’ of the work but the fact that each day is different… one never knows what to expect next on the mobile unit J! I also enjoy my work at a local maternity home done in conjunction with the mobile care clinics.

►Summer is flying by, so be sure to get outside, enjoy the weather, and get some exercise.  Ride a bike, take a walk, or even hula-hoop!! Just be sure to drink plenty of water to stay hydrated.

by: Dr. Veenod “Vinny” Chulani, Medical Director, Orlando Children’s Health Project

Last month, the Orlando Children’s Health Project held Pediatric Advocacy Day to raise awareness of the importance of advocacy and engage the pediatric community in the legislative process. As part of CHF’s National Network, I’ve been lucky enough to become an advocate not only for my program, but for my patients, bringing their voices to the halls of Congress and locally to my elected representatives in Orlando. This work is critical, as many of my patients depend on safety net programs, like Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

Pediatric Advocacy Day began as in idea to better engage pediatric residents at the Arnold Palmer Medical Center and give them the tools to become advocates for their patients outside of the hospital, to the community and elected officials. To start the day, widely respected child advocate Jack Levine delivered Grand Rounds entitled The Crossroads of Politics and Policy: How to Advocate Without Getting Run Over.

The day continued with a forum: Advocates in Action for Children and Families, and was attended by hospital and residency administrators, pediatric faculty and residents, and members of the institution's Community Leadership Council, and the Arnold Palmer Medical Center Foundation and its board. The forum highlighted the need for advocates to help inform the implementation of health care reform to best serve children and families.

► Patients from our Idaho Children's Project wave "hello" outside of their Mobile Dental Unit. Next time you see a CHF Mobile Clinic providing care in or driving through your community, take a picture and send it to us at content@chfund.org or post it to our facebook!

by Caitlin McFeely, Communications Associate, Children's Health Fund

Blog readers, today we are happy to introduce you to another “Face from the Field”. Maria Even Johns is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) that works on the mobile clinic at CHF’s New Orleans Children’s Health Project (NOCHP).

Enjoy and don’t forget to leave questions/comments for Maria!

Caitlin (C): How long have you been working with CHF?

Maria: I’ve been here for almost 3 years (2yrs 10 months to be exact!)

C: What made you want to work for this type of organization?

Maria: I wanted the opportunity to work with culturally diverse kids and families.

C: What is your favorite part about working on the mobile clinic?

Maria: The diversity we see in the neighborhoods and population we serve.

C: What are the biggest challenges children and families in your region are experiencing in accessing health care and how are you addressing them?

Maria: Lack of transportation is a major barrier to care for our families. So to help them, we have implemented a program to provide transportation for these families to access care.

► CHF released a study this week that left us deeply concerned about the children and families directly impacted by the oil spill.  The study found that over one-third of parents report that their children have experienced either physical symptoms or mental health distress as a consequence of the oil spill.  In a few short weeks, CHF will deploy a Mobile Clinic to Plaquemines Parish (south of New Orleans), an area heavily impacted by the disaster.  This unit will provide much needed medical care and public health information about this ongoing crisis to families.