Yet even as welders and electricians prepare the building for its fall 2013 opening, funding conversations are beginning in Congress that WILL directly affect health services for Indy and other communities across Indiana next year. The U.S. House of Representatives has already started work on the FY2014 annual appropriations process, which helps provide much of the funding for community health centers.

Here’s how you can help, Indy.

Last week, the bipartisan sign-on letter led by Congressman Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) and Congressman Frank Pallone (D-NJ), indicating support for the Health Centers program to House Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Jack Kingston (R-GA) and Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), has begun circulating, the National Association of Community Health Centers reports. The deadline for signatures is set for April 10th. You can view the letter here. The letter is a great way for Representatives to publicly convey their support for the Health Centers program in the FY2014 Appropriations process.

Take Action: Request your U.S. Representative support Health Centers by 1) Signing on to the Bilirakis-Pallone letter, and 2) Submitting an individual programmatic request in support of full funding for Health Centers.

The Bilirakis-Pallone letter conveys general support for the Health Centers program and does not include a specific funding level. Individual House Members can include Health Centers among the programs they deem priorities in their individual programmatic requests to the House Appropriations Labor-HHS Subcommittee. The Subcommittee is now accepting these requests and the deadline to submit individual programmatic requests is April 15th. However, many individual House offices may set internal deadlines prior to that date, so the time to reach out to Hill offices about supporting Health Centers via programmatic request is NOW!

Click here to send your U.S. Representative an email now!

HealthNet is celebrating because of a grant we received from the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute. The Child Restraint Distribution Grant program provided us with funding to purchase and distribute infant car seats to expecting mothers enrolled in our Better Indy Babies Program who cannot afford one.

In celebration of National Child Passenger Safety Week, we held two car seat clinics this week at our Eastside Health Center on 8902 East 38th Street and Barrington Health & Dental Center at 3401 East Raymond Street. Our BIBs staff, who are certified child passenger safety technicians, were able to educate and distribute approximately 40 infant car seats between these two centers.

Many of these women that participate in our BIBs program cannot afford to purchase a car seat and often resort to using or borrowing one that is not functional or safe, or none at all. This program will allow these women to have the correct seat needed once the baby is born and they will be educated on its proper installation, reducing the risk of injury or death in the event of an accident.

Did you know??

• Motor vehicle crashes are the #1 cause of death for children 1 to 13 in the United States.
• In 2011, there were 5,191 children age 0-15 involved in collisions in Indiana. Of that number, 38 children involved in motor vehicle collisions were killed.
• Children less than one year old are 12.5 times more likely to be seriously injured if not properly restrained, those ages 1 to 3 are 4.3 times more likely, and those 4 to 7 are 4.4 times more likely to be seriously injured if unrestrained.
• Nationally 3 out of 4 car seats are not used correctly!

That’s why safety events like National Child Passenger Safety Week, September 16-22, and HealthNet’s car seat clinics are so important to help parents and caregivers learn how to choose the right car seat, how to use them properly, and to ensure the seats they are using are installed correctly.

Is YOUR child’s car seat is installed correctly?

Take 15 minutes and find out. Conduct an at-home checkup using this Safe Kids downloadable checklist!

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Want to support a family in need by helping them to receive a car seat?
A $75 donation can go toward the purchase of a car seat for Better Indy Babies/Healthy Families to distribute while giving instruction on the proper use. Click here to donate and help keep all of Indianapolis’ children safe.

In just a few short months, the much-needed extra space has enabled the health center to dramatically expand access to affordable primary and dental care services for Near Eastside residents:

• Three doctors have joined the health center’s staff. Dr. Devonne Mullis (internal medicine/pediatrics), Dr. Amanda Beach (pediatrics), and Dr. Matthew Overley (family practice) are now accepting new patients.
• Rachel Hawkins, DDS, joined the dental team. Dental hygiene care is also offered five days a week.
• As a part of HealthNet’s integrated care model, Behavioral Health Services at People’s expanded to include two patient navigators, adolescent/pediatric psychiatrist Gina Laite, adult psychiatrist Dr. Cathy Herod, and child psychologist Dr. Robin Kohli, in addition to therapists Scott Kahler and Dr. Yvonne Oropeza. They are at People’s at least 1-2 days a week, as well as serving at other HealthNet locations.

It’s amazing the difference a year can make! The health center had outgrown its space nearly five years ago, in response to the needs of this community. Thanks to capital campaign donors and $5.3 million in federal stimulus funds, the new, environmentally “green” health center is expected to serve 11,000 patients and delivering 46,000 patient visits per year at capacity.

Congratulations to the People’s staff on a successful first year in your new home. Best wishes for many more to come!

Relive the moment…Check out photos from the health center’s grand opening celebration!

Did you know? Many community health centers like People’s desperately need to expand, but can’t. The Health Centers program faces real threats to its future as a result of actions already taken by, and proposals being considered, in Congress. Read more about the issue and how you can make a difference for the future health of our city.