UPHAC 8th Annual Fall Conference Release
Seven in the Spotlight:
UPHAC Honors ‘Hero for the Uninsured’ Awardees May 7
Seven exemplary health care providers, service partners and volunteers from across Upper Michigan were honored May 7 for generous support they’ve given uninsured U.P. residents. They are recipients of 2009 “Hero for the Uninsured” Awards, sponsored by the Upper Peninsula Health Access Coalition (UPHAC), five Local Access Coalitions of the U.P. and health care partner organizations.
“In 2009, UPHAC joins with U.P. health care providers to recognize special people and organizations who extend exceptional assistance to uninsured residents of their communities,” said Bill Reid, UPHAC board president. “The ‘Hero for the Uninsured’ awardees represent hundreds of others who partner with the Local Access Coalitions of the U.P. to selflessly respond to needs of families, friends and neighbors without health care coverage.”
This year’s honorees include two “Most Valuable Partner (MVP) Hero” Awardees:
- The Michigan office of the Corporation for National and Community Service in Detroit has supported the work of UPHAC and Local Access Coalitions over the past five years through placement of 12 full-time AmeriCorps*VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) members for single or multiple year terms of service. In 2008 alone, VISTA “capacity builders” at Local Access Coalitions completed more than $963,300 in Prescription Assistance Program applications for uninsured residents to receive free or low-cost medications from pharmaceutical companies. Others supply promotional, fundraising, database, volunteer recruitment and training, enrollment, special event and administrative support.
- In Delta County, St. Vincent de Paul Society has provided donated office space and utilities for the Care Free Dental Clinic and makes available emergency vouchers for uninsured Escanaba and Gladstone area residents referred by Medical Access Coalition to acquire urgently needed medications through local pharmacies.
The 2009 “Innovation Hero” Awardee is Northwoods Airlifeline of Kingsford, a nonprofit organization of volunteer pilots who donate their time and aircraft to help patients and their families access needed medical care and health services not provided locally. In an average year, Northwoods Airlifeline pilots fly 180 urgent and non-urgent missions to assist U.P. residents, logging more than 1,000 hours in 2008.
Two “Personal Touch Hero” Awardees serve Local Access Coalitions in volunteer capacities:
- High school studentFaith Laken of Gwinn has been one of the most dedicated volunteers with Medical Care Access Coalition in Marquette since 2005. Even with her full school schedule, Faith has participated on MCAC newsletter and development committees, has helped with survey work and special community events and enrolls patients into the MCAC program with the utmost respect and dignity, as well as offering routine office assistance.
- A local “goodwill ambassador” for programs of Schoolcraft Health Access in Manistique, volunteer Connie A. Diller of Gulliver assists with patient enrollments, pharmaceutical assistance program applications and administrative office tasks as well as being the volunteer photographer at SHA activities and UPHAC conferences and public events. A substitute teacher, she has been instrumental in organizing “Cover the Uninsured” Week awareness campaigns at Manistique Area Schools.
Two “Above & Beyond Hero” Awardees selected for 2009 are:
- James E. Hubbard, MD, a family practice physician with Grand View Clinic in Ironwood and a volunteer provider since 2005 with the Western U.P. Healthcare Access Coalition in Gogebic County. Dr. Hubbard believes that care be provided equally to all, based solely on need for care, and he has made a difference in the lives of uninsured residents of his area by taking on extra patients when another volunteer provider with WUPHAC left the area. He also actively encourages his fellow medical professionals to participate as volunteer care providers with the WUPHAC program.
- Extending its services to meet prescription needs of uninsured Chippewa County residents, Sault Community Pharmacy of Sault Ste. Marie has worked with Community Health Access Coalition since 2006 to professionally process and dispense donated medications CHAC acquires from pharmaceutical companies for its enrollees. In 2008, the pharmacy processed more than $238,000 in medications for CHAC enrollees, donating time and materials valued at $3,784 as well as answering patient questions about their medications and making prescriptions available beyond CHAC’s twice-monthly volunteer clinic schedule.
A total of 16 community citizens and organizations were nominated for 2009 Hero Awards.
Among health care sponsors for the 2009 “Hero” Awards are: OSF St. Francis Hospital of Escanaba; Marquette General Health System; Dickinson County Healthcare System in Iron Mountain; Portage Health in Hancock; War Memorial Hospital of Sault Ste. Marie; Northstar Health System of Iron River; Helen Newberry Joy Hospital of Newberry; Schoolcraft Memorial Hospital of Manistique; and Mackinac Straits Hospital of St. Ignace. Other dinner sponsors included UpFront & Company and the Marquette Monthly of Marquette, and Sayklly’s Confectionary and Gifts, Bertrands Awards & Engraving and Cake SeraSera, all of Escanaba.
Speaker for the “Hero for the Uninsured” Awards dinner was Rebecca (Reba) Rice, Executive Director of The Lakes Community Health Center in Iron River, WI.
Past “Hero for the Uninsured” Awardees include:
- War Memorial Hospital of Sault Ste. Marie,
- OSF St. Francis Hospital of Escanaba,
- Schoolcraft Memorial Hospital of Manistique,
- Portage Health System’s Financial Assistance Program of Hancock,
- U.P. Association of Rural Health Services,
- Dickinson County Healthcare System’s Patient Assistance Program of Iron Mountain,
- Care Free Dental Clinic of Escanaba,
- Medical Arts Medical Center of Houghton,
- TDS Pharmacies of Dickinson County
- former Medical Care Access Coalition Clinic director Kevin Piggott, MD, of Marquette,
- Martha Short, MD, with Melissa Broeders, PA, and Cathy Paquette, LPN, all of Marquette,
- Teresa Kowalski , FNP, of Dafter and
- volunteers Ruthann Davey of Calumet and Jeannette Hauver of Marquette.
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