EDITOR’S NOTE: The Yes for Health District Bond will have several more town halls at the North County Recreation District, one this Sunday April 23rd. See below for more information.
By Dr. Yvana Iovino, MD
I strongly support the Nehalem Bay Health District’s bond measure in the May 16 election, and I hope my experience will help voters understand why.
First, it is important to know that the Nehalem Bay Health Center (NBHC) is a FQHC (Federally Qualified Health Center).
FQHC clinics are outpatient, low-cost clinics that receive grant funding through the Public Health Service Act and have specific reimbursement systems under Medicaid and Medicare. For a health center to qualify for federal support, it must meet the following standards:
• Provide services to everyone in their community, regardless of their ability to pay
• Offer a sliding fee program
• Be a public or a non-profit organization
• Be community based
• Have a board of directors composed mainly of their patients
• Serve a medically underserved community or area
• Deliver comprehensive primary care services
• Have an ongoing quality assurance program
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In addition, the Nehalem Bay Health Center (NBHC) is recognized by the federal Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA) as a National Health Service Corps Site. These are sites where a newly minted physician or dentist coming out of residency or fellowship can seek a position in return for loan forgiveness. The sites are applied for and granted if they are in an inner city or rural areas that have a physician shortage.
When I came out of residency, I was not in the loan forgiveness program, but I did want to serve an underserved population: inner city, migrant farmworkers or Native Americans, for example.
Once clinics and hospitals know that you are looking to work in these areas, they begin to heavily recruit you; each clinic showing off what they can offer in terms of up to date equipment, congenial colleagues, possible housing, etc.
I was lured by Navajo Area Indian Health Service because their recruiter was knowledgeable, responded quickly to questions, and I was attracted to the area – Chinle, Arizona – despite it being very remote because there were wonderful doctors working there. Additionally, the opportunity offered me and another new doctor to open a brand new OB/GYN wing in a brand new hospital, equipped with what we needed to run an up to date ward.
We asked and received new fetal monitoring machines, a new ultrasound machine (in a time when this wasn’t even available to regular hospitals), etc. And we ran an OB/GYN ward along with seven midwives and gave incredible care to the Navajo women in our area. We had one of the lowest C-section rates and one of the lowest infant mortality rates in the state.
It has always been my belief that poor people should receive the best health care in a beautiful surrounding just like people with more means.
I provide this background to emphasize that a beautiful new, modern health center in north Tillamook County with a seasoned medical staff that can serve as mentors to new physicians will attract new doctors and other providers to our area. We already have the natural beauty and to be honest, we are not THAT remote or rural.
The Health Center has also done some amazing outreach into the surrounding community. They make up and give out boxes of culturally appropriate food items to families in need. They attend health fairs to educate people both in Spanish and English about benefits available under the Affordable Care Act and help people sign up. If you have tried to apply for health insurance using the online site but it can be daunting even with a post college education!
The NBHC has also started a very successful school based health center at Neahkahnie High School for students, teachers and families, and has developed a transportation program to help people visit the health center. All of these efforts provide incredibly valuable services to the community, but there can be even more, and we will need more in the future. The bond measure is about better addressing current needs, but also about planning long term.
I hope this helps residents understand why I believe so strongly that the Nehalem Bay Health Center needs a new, modern home. A new facility will improve quality and accessibility for everyone in the community, will help attract more medical staff and will benefit seniors, families and children.
I really hope the community supports this opportunity.
(Dr. Yvana Iovino is a retired OB/GYN. She received her medical training at the Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn, NY and practiced her specialty with the Indian Health Service in Arizona and with the Yakima Valley Farmworkers clinic in rural Eastern Washington state. She lives in Manzanita and serves on the board of the non-profit Nehalem Bay Health Center and Pharmacy.)
Yes for Local Health Care – Town Halls – April 23 & May 3
Join us this Sunday, April 23rd at 2 PM (or Wednesday, May 3 at 5:00 pm) at the NCRD Performing Arts Center for an opportunity to hear more about the bond measure and how it will address improvements in local health and senior care.
The plan includes construction of a new, state-of-the-art Nehalem Bay Health District and Pharmacy, a medical facility that will provide the needed space to provide specialty health care services not currently available in the community.
The Health District is also planning to renovate and modernize the Nehalem Valley Care Center, a skilled nursing and rehabilitation facility, to improve the care and safety of seniors who need 24-hour nursing care.
And the bond measure will support site preparation leading to workforce housing focused on the community housing needs of medical and other essential workers.
For more on the bond measure visit www.nehalemhealthcare.com and follow the campaign on Facebook at Yes for Local Health Care https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090438080823.