HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0193.007 1996-1998 _ .
- HAMAKUA HEALTH CEN~fER
P.O. Box 509 Q Honokaa Hawaii 96727
COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
' JOHN RAY„CHAIRMAN
RECEIVED '7
MARCH 19 ,1997 nme„-- ey -
Datez~
3 ~ ~-is".2.
County Council ; , , ~
TESTIMONY IN SUPt'ORT~f,~ON-~?'RpPiT taR,q~lt ~'R'RUt~QSAL FOR
HAMAKUA HEALTF{ CEI~"Ct=R QtJ"fR~ACH AhtC)if'A'~'IEI~tT ED. PROG.
My name is Galt Walter. i`tn the Executive Airector of the Hamakua Heath
Center. I'm sorry! couldn't be?here today but t was schecluied tr3 be out of state at
this time for a white and could not change those, plans, Ptease accept mywrittan
testimony in support of our grant proposaf In lieu of presence tyre you.
Our Health center has continued to grouts since our transition from plantation
days and the infirmary, We are proud of our federally'designated community
health centerand the full range of corrtprehensve services that we now offer,
especially in a community thatis destgttat~d as.Wnderserved medically. 1Ne now
provide services that have.hetped affedthe heath outcomes of rnany of our
patients. Many of these progr~arrns, however,~are not reirrrburseaf~le through-
medical insurances. They are.; though; pr+ag~irtits necessary to,assist our staff in
their conFinued effortm edf3ca#e Cai~:cet~trr~rity'pa#i~ttS Ito assist our patients
down their path of health rrraintair>~ce and wellness.
The two programs that we are requesting your assistance for are two such
programs---Outreach and Patient Education. Art example of how Patient
Education has assisted those:in need is-the irr~lementation of our diabetic patient
education program. dour years: ago, vre hallo totally out of zormot diabetic patient
population at the center. Diabetes is ti^se slumber one disease that we deal with.
We ware amputating foes and few frequently because of poor patent compliance
and patient management of their illness. We instituted our diabetic program and
have worked very hard doing intense case management on this population. Our
patient educator has quite a comprehensive program in place for each patient
and monitors our patients very closely every visit. This took a lot of time, training,
education and follow up. Today, our diabetic population is stable. We've done
only one amputation in two years. Our patients have individual monitoring cO13S~ DSo. ~q----- 3'
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programs that they must follow and they do on a regular basis. They have ivo,___,_ l~1,1 i7
Tel: (808) 775-7204 tr Fax: (808) 775-9404 ~f, Presented Sr fifth
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unlimited access to the patient educator at anytime. She even makes home visits,
if need be. This is only one example of the value of the program. I haven't even
detailed the cost savings in medical care care dollars that this program has
allowed us to save, but they are substantial. We do need these types of
programs on a continuous basis available to patients in order to continue to affect
health and cost outcomes in today's health care environment. This is only one
small portion of the program:
Please assist us in co~rtuing #o provide the much needed services that our
community patients need by suporrfing our grant request. Thank you.
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