CHF's blog

By Carol Sumkin, Senior Vice President, Development, Children's Health Fund

One year ago today, Children’s Health Fund (CHF) and Clorox launched the Connect Kids to Care program with the help of actress Julianne Moore. The goal of the program was to rally people across the country to help CHF connect vulnerable kids to ongoing health care with the click of a mouse.  Each time someone “liked” Clorox on Facebook, Clorox donated $1.00 to CHF (up to $100,000).  Six months after the launch, we reached 100,000 “likes,” thanks to supporters like you.   

That $100,000 donation along with Clorox’s additional $500,000 commitment is going a long way.  In fact, in 2010 this important support has helped enable CHF programs to provide more than 244,000 medical, mental, and dental health visits as well as other vital health services to kids across the country. 

And remember the kids you met in our Connect Kids to Care videos?  If you haven’t caught up with Jorge, check out our recent blog post to see how he’s doing. 

Pretty amazing! Thank you to Clorox for helping raise awareness about the millions of American children that do not have the health care services they need and deserve. 

And the best part? You can expect to see more from the Connect Kids to Care program in the coming months! Stay tuned.

► This week, Children's Health Fund Co-Founder Paul Simon released his 12th solo album, So Beautiful or So What.  Congratulations to Paul from all of us at Children's Health Fund!

"There are days when I personally dirve the 38 foot mobile clinic complete with a nurse triage room, two exam rooms, a patient waiting area, a bathroom and a registrar area..."

Practicing in a Clinic on Wheels
by Cody Conklin-Aguilera, MD

Life in a Rural FQHC
by April Alvarez-Coronna, MD

One of the best ways to get to know our programs is by listening to stories from the doctors that work on the mobile clinic every day. From their personal accounts, we learn more about the talented group of individuals that make up the Children's Health Fund National Network while getting a glimpse at the struggles and successes of working with homeless and underserved communities.

This month, the newsletter for the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Arizona Chapter features artciles from two of CHF’s doctors – Dr. Cody Conklin-Aguilera from our Phoenix Children’s Health Project and Dr. April Alvarez-Corona from our Southern Arizona Children’s Health Project.

Follow Dr. Cody from the South Bronx Health Center for Children and Families in New York to working on the Phoenix mobile clinic. In Dr. April's account, she explains what it means to be a “community pediatrician” and do more than just provide children with medical care.

We are very proud to share these stories with you and hope you enjoy getting to know our dedicated staff and what it takes to bring quality health care to the most vulnerable kids across the country.
 

Since our inception, CHF has remained an active voice in child health care policy both federally and locally. Through Hill visits, Policy Forums, and Advocacy Days like the 2009 event on the West Capitol Lawn, Washington, D.C. (pictured here), CHF raises it's voice for the health care rights of all children, since their voices can not be heard.  

Even with the 2010 passage of the health care law, our fight for the health care rights of all children is far from over. This week the government faces possible shutdown due to Congressional wrangling over the current year’s budget.  The House passed a budget that the Senate deems unacceptable while a small faction in the House is calling for even deeper cuts than the ones they already passed.  EVERYTHING is on the table, including cuts to Medicaid and even the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). These potential reductions in funding for vital safety net programs will impact millions of children and families, including 30 million children that depend on Medicaid.  We need you to contact your representatives and tell them it is imperative that they work to protect children from theses program cuts and changes now and in the future.
 

By Caitlin McFeely, Communications Associate, CHF

Dr. Manali Kanitkar, Pediatric Dentist
Children's Health Fund, New York Mobile Dental Clinic

 

 

A few weeks ago, my colleagues and I enjoyed a visit with Dr. Manali Kanitkar, the new dentist for CHF’s New York Mobile Dental Clinic, which will begin providing much needed dental care to New York City kids in a few weeks. The dental clinic will work in tandem with our mobile clinics, which visit numerous homeless shelters throughout New York City to provide quality health care to a growing number of poor and underserved children.

It was so interesting and exciting to listen to Dr. Kanitkar talk about her career and her plans to help bring the ‘Dental Home’ to homeless kids in New York, who desperately need quality dental care. The Dental Home is an ongoing relationship between the dentist and the patient to provide comprehensive oral health care in a family-centered and accessible way. Dr. Kanitkar understands that the parents, physician, dentist, mental health professional, etc., all need to work together to ensure the child’s well-being.

We talked a lot about how nutrition and healthy eating impacts oral health. Many of the dental-related problems kids experience while growing up are the direct result of poor eating and oral hygiene habits. For example, one of leading causes of tooth decay (cavities) is called “Early Childhood Caries” (or commonly referred to as “baby bottle tooth decay”) and is caused by giving children sugary drinks in bottles from an early age. The sugar from the juice or soda sticks to the teeth, causing extensive tooth decay at a young age, which in turn impacts the child’s oral and general health throughout his or her life.

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

When I was growing up, I was lucky to have a safe place to play outdoors with my family and friends. Kickball, hide and seek, wiffle ball, you name it. We got to run around, get some exercise, and have fun in the kind of environment I’d hope every kid has access to.

But childhood for kids living in homeless shelters isn’t much like mine was. They struggle daily with stressful experiences that have a lasting effect on their development and ability to learn and play. They also experience higher rates of acute and chronic health problems.

This past week, as I walked to one of the homeless shelters in the Bronx, served by the health care team from CHF’s New York Children’s Health Project (NYCHP), I wondered, “where do the local kids go to play after school”? Is there a park or youth center nearby? Are the obesity rates in this area higher because there aren’t any places to go?

In 1988, Yankee legend Don Mattingly (pictured here with CHF's Irwin Redlener, M.D. and some Yankees fans) helped launch the Children's Health Fund's Yankees Home Run Club to raise money and awareness for our programs that provide comprehensive health care to underserved children. Thanks to the generous support of loyal Yankee/CHF fans, the Club has grown over the years and raised more than a million dollars.

Yesterday, the Yankees kicked off their 2011 season (with a win!), which means our Yankees Home Run Club, sponsored by Delta Air Lines, is back in action. Hit a home run for kids by making a pledge for every home run the Yankees hit.

National Doctor’s Day honors the work of doctors across the United States. In celebration of Doctor’s Day 2011, I’m thrilled to introduce you to the newest pediatrician to join the Children’s Health Fund (CHF) community, Dr. Elliott Attisha from the Children’s Health Project of Detroit.

Dr. Attisha grew up in the metro Detroit area and has been working as a pediatrician in the Motor City for the past 10 years. I haven’t met Elliott in person, but this interview offered me the opportunity to hear more about the challenges the children of Detroit face accessing health care, as well as Elliott’s perspective about caring for the kids of this community.

Caitlin (C): What inspired you to become a doctor?

Elliott (E): I would have to say that my parents, especially my dad, pretty much engraved the idea in my head from a few minutes after I was born and maybe even when I was still in my mother’s womb. Of course, I rebelled and wanted to become anything but a doctor. As many people do, I changed my career goals in college multiple times and finally decided to give medicine a chance. I volunteered in a hospital and knew that this is where I belonged. Although I started out with the intent of becoming a family doctor, the part I enjoyed the most was working with kids, so I pursued a career in pediatrics instead. What better a profession for someone who never wants to grow up? Later in life I married a pediatrician who happens to feel the same way.

C: What made you want to work for an organization like CHF?

E: For over nine years, I practiced pediatrics in suburban Detroit. Although I cherished the continuity of care, I longed to make a more lasting impact in my community. In September 2010, I joined Henry Ford Health System’s School-Based and Community Health Program in Detroit. My role as a pediatrician truly became that of an advocate for some of our nation’s most underserved children. The challenges that inner-city children face are overwhelming, with multiple barriers to health care, education, proper nutrition and so much more. Henry Ford’s School-Based health clinics play an integral role in alleviating many of these barriers. I found my work to be truly rewarding. Soon after joining the school clinics I was informed of Henry Ford’s partnership with CHF. It didn’t take more than a few minutes of learning about the program to know that it was the perfect complement to what Henry Ford was already doing with each of its school clinics.

Today, Children's Health Fund welcomed Dr. Manali Kanitkar, the new dentist for the New York Mobile Dental Clinic, which will begin providing much needed dental care to New York City kids in a few weeks. Dr. Kanitkar spoke with CHF staff today and is pictured here (center) with Dr. Irwin Redlener and Dr. Delaney Gracy. Stay tuned for a full introduction to Dr. Kanitkar, including her vision and experience with the pediatric 'Dental Home'.

With warmer weather and longer days, it's much easier to get outside and get some exercise.  Hitting the playground (like these kids in Southern Arizona), playing a sport, or even taking a walk with your kids after dinner are all fun ways your family can get the exercise your body needs.  

Need more ideas on ways to get moving? Check out our recently updated Healthy B.A.S.I.C.S brochure: Be Active for Good Health.