URBAN HEALTH CARE IN MILWAUKEE - ALL HANDS on DECK

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November 29, 2011

Twenty-first century “In-the-neighborhood access” to primary and specialty care for Milwaukeeans is equal to a third world country.

We have the funds, we have the educational sites and we can have a growing medical talent pool; but, they are not coordinated for better customer care, transparency, best practices, health wellness customized for Milwaukeeans health care needs, affordable cost due to education attainment for care-givers and ongoing education to the end-users with best practices on both sides, best use of funding – research-education attainment-health care facilities, employment and business development at the neighborhood-level.

ALL HANDS on Deck, WE, Not Me Initiative-Plan-Project sees HEALTH CARE as a primary focus of change for its BOTTOM-up Recovery - economic affluence and BETTER-BEST sustainability at the neighborhood-level.

Our densely populated neighborhoods on the north and south side have chronic health challenges that can be overcome with proper due diligence (education-communication-access-connectivity-solidarity in message-strategic planning and buy-in from the Get-go, creating networks for tracking records, access to “trained” and “sensitive” health care providers) and maximizing our resources.

The total population through all methods of neighborhood-level outreach (individual, adults, youth-young adults, mothers-fathers-siblings-relatives, schools, churches, neighborhood businesses, private and public organizations with community services must be educated and in a neighborhood network of sharing information. No one is exempt.

We call for every man-woman-child, no one is exempt, to support the removal of obesity, high blood pressure, heart attacks, diabetes, AIDS, cancers, childhood illnesses, low-birth weight infants, drug addiction, alcohol addiction, mental health illnesses, and other befalling illnesses from becoming older and through negative practices.

WE see EDUCATION OUTREACH to the people, of what-who-where-when-how as Step 1.

NEIGHBORHOOD-LEVEL TOOLKIT NETWORK
WE see MESSAGE-CARRYING at all Child care sites, Milwaukee Public Schools and all other schools (public-private-elementary-secondary, 2- and 4-year) as the first-line of defense and health intervention.

WE see the health department of Milwaukee as our built-in catalyst authorized to provide connectivity and basics to all end-users. It is ground zero for planning and coordinating FOR/by the people for BUY-IN, review and updates; ONLY if, the stakeholders are at the table for initial through post planning; and, practitioners during the the implementation.

It is to be a "home-grown" process for long-term sustainability.

WE see the newly funded Columbia St. Mary’s site (Bill 514) as the Milwaukee Urban neighborhood training center and HUB for volunteers from the neighborhoods, care providers planning and overall training facility with state-of-the art conferencing for academic-technology-research attainment. It is to mobilize the stakeholders in the neighborhood and utilize hidden talent of resource-sharing. The school IS TO BE a one-stop shop that provide CASE LEARNING and on-the-job training.

WE see a Milwaukee Urban Health think tank made up of neighborhood volunteers, neighborhood strategic planners, end-users, care providers, insurance providers, pharmacy representatives, health care administrators and research representatives from UW-Milwaukee Helen Bader School of Public Health and other higher education health focus sites.

WE see UW-Milwaukee as our built-in catalyst for working directly with the neighborhood-level end-users in research, education attainment of care givers, education/training of public workers of the neighborhood and development of specifics that empower the Urban Health Collaborative.

WE see large organizations such as Aurora, Columbia St. Mary’s, St. Joseph, Froedtert , Medical College of Wisconsin and health insurance companies as part of the day-to-day consortium that must adopt a NEW method of “MAXIMIZING” major health services, cost savings, partnerships with in-the-neighborhood quality services for customers in the City of Milwaukee. To help provide incubators, clinics and real estate parks WITHIN the City of Milwaukee for accessibility.

WE see all health providers for end-users in the City of Milwaukee registering and participating in the growth, soundness and critical health prevention and intervention of the City of Milwaukee.

WE embrace strongly the University of Chicago ideas of patients having a “MEDICAL HOME”, “NON-EMERGENCY USE FOR PRIMARY HEALTH CARE”, “HOLISTIC HEALTH CARE” and training the next generation of practitioners to serve in the urban neighborhoods.

The Urban Health Initiative (UHI) is a partnership among the University of Chicago Medical Center and public leaders, community groups, health care providers and community residents. Together, these groups are working in the areas of patient care, research and education to improve the long-term health of the more than one million people on the South Side of Chicago. Video of Chicago Urban Initiative: CLICK.

MPA supports the 2020 challenges of Education Attainment and Technology that President Obama has put forward. We equally support the following in his reform for Health:

-- Health reform will make health care more affordable

-- make health insurers more accountable

-- expand health coverage to all Americans

-- make the health system sustainable

-- stabilize family budgets

-- improve the Federal budget and the economy.

For more about Health Care Reform – the White House Issues, go to:

WHITE HOUSE HEALTH CARE
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ALL HANDS on DECK, WE, Not Me Initiative-Plan-Project is the work of Milwaukee Professionals Association [MPA] and th brainchild of Mary Glass, Chair/CEO.