Operation Empower Health – Greater Savannah to provide no-cost healthcare services for thousands in the region
St. Joseph’s/Candler and Georgia Southern University are supporting the U.S. Military to provide no-cost healthcare for those in need in our region.
Savannah was selected as the flagship site for the Department of Defense’s 2018 Innovative Readiness Training Program after SJ/C and Georgia Southern submitted a proposal to host it. Dubbed Operation Empower Health – Greater Savannah, the training will have troops from every branch of the military in town to provide medical, dental, vision and veterinary services for more than 6,000 people. The services will be provided at various locations in Chatham County from May 10-18.
Key partners in Operation Empower Health are the City of Savannah, Garden City and Savannah State University, all of which will be providing space for the medical services as well as a place for the troops to bed down and eat.
Innovative Readiness Training (IRT) is a U.S. military training opportunity that provides real-life deployment training and readiness for military personnel while addressing public and civil-society needs. The military services have always brought to bear their resources to help meet some of the country’s civil needs. With IRT, the Department of Defense realizes simultaneous benefits from military training and readiness while providing quality services to communities through the U.S.
Operation Empower Health FLYER
Services offered – Among the services offered through Operation Empower Health – Greater Savannah are:
Medical
Physical exams
Sports exams
Patient education
Dental
Extractions
Fillings
Vision
Eye exams
Prescriptions
Fabrication of glasses
Veterinary services
Spay/neuter (only at Civic Center)
General exams
Rabies vaccinations
Locations
Those seeking the services of IRT may do so at the following locations:
Georgia Southern University’s Armstrong Campus
11935 Abercorn Street
Savannah, Ga. 31419
Savannah Civic Center
301 W. Oglethorpe Avenue
Savannah, Ga. 31401
Savannah State University
3219 College Street
Savannah, Ga. 31404
Garden City Recreational Department
160 Priscilla D Thomas Road
Garden City, Ga. 31408
Hours of operation
Daily hours of operation at each site will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. All are welcome, especially the under/uninsured. Services are available to those in Chatham and surrounding counties, including South Carolina.
Operation Empower Health FLYER
Retrieved March 7, 2018 from https://www.sjchs.org/in-the-community/operation-empower-health-greater-savannah
Summer Camp for Children Living with Type I Diabetes
For parents of children living with Type I Diabetes every day can feel like Ground Hog Day…….testing, counting carbohydrates, calculating insulin dose, bolus dosing, correcting high blood glucose levels……….all to promote the best healthy lifestyle and glucose management and lifelong success in living with a chronic disease.
Children living with Type I Diabetes are frequently the only child in their school, their sports team, their peer group, their church, even their family who are demonstrating this daily.
A Camp opportunity for children living with T1D allows that child to be one of hundreds of individuals following the same routine every day and encourages independence in self care, achievement of new skills in self management, and self esteem and self awareness that diabetes is not a stigma or spot light on difference but a condition that can be controlled.
St Joseph’s/Candler offers the opportunity for children living with Type I Diabetes to attend just such a camp. For the 4th consecutive year we are offering scholarship to Camp Adam Fisher in Summerton, South Carolina. Camp Adam is the oldest overnight camp experience in the Carolinas and the Southeastern US, celebrating 50 years in 2017!
If you are the parent of a child age 6-17 years or family member of such a child who would be eligible for camp participation, please reach out. I would love to take along a new friend to camp!
Chatham County Safety Net Planning Council, Inc. Receives Grant to Help Reduce the Number of Uninsured Children
Chatham County Safety Net Planning Council, Inc. Receives Grant to Help Reduce the Number of Uninsured Children
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today named Chatham County Safety Net Planning Council, Inc.as one of the recipients from 38 states, school districts, and local community organizations to participate in an effort to get more eligible children enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Chatham County Safety Net Planning Council, Inc. will receive a $580,000 Connecting Kids to Coverage grant to enroll eligible children. Today’s awards are designed to build on the historic progress already made increasing the number of children who have health coverage. According to the National Health Interview Survey, only 4.5 percent of children remained uninsured in 2015.
The Connecting Kids to Coverage outreach and enrollment awards will support targeted strategies needed to enroll eligible children who do not have health coverage, including application assistance and targeted outreach. Awardees include states, school districts, and local community organizations from across the country in areas where access to health coverage has been lagging, including among others, American Indians, children with learning disabilities, children living in rural communities, and teens.
“Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, the rate of uninsurance for children has declined to its lowest levels on record. Fewer than 1 in 20 children are now uninsured,” said Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell. “Today’s awards will accelerate efforts in communities across America to continue this progress and reach millions of children who are eligible for Medicaid or CHIP but not yet enrolled.”
The latest FY 15 data shows 1,572,483 children are enrolled in either CHIP or Medicaid in Georgia. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has helped increase the number of children who have access to quality, affordable coverage. In addition, 91 percent of eligible children are now enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP, an increase of nearly 10 percentage points since 2008, according to the Urban Institute[1]. These researchers also found that health coverage increased all subgroups of children studied, including among all age groups and in all regions of the country in 2014.
CMS is also releasing today an informational bulletin that highlights existing strategies available to all states to enroll and retain eligible children in Medicaid and CHIP. This information will help all states build on the progress to date to increase the number of children with health coverage.
“Today’s awards will help continue the remarkable progress states and community organizations have made in enrolling eligible children in Medicaid and CHIP,” said Vikki Wachino, deputy administrator and director for the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services. “CMS is excited to support innovative strategies to enroll children and address disparities in coverage that have kept some children from obtaining the benefits of Medicaid and CHIP.”
Having coverage improves children’s health, ability to succeed in school, and other positive outcomes. Recent research shows that these gains are long lasting, with children who gained coverage experiencing better health, higher educational attainment, and higher earnings as adults.
The total of $32 million made possible for the Connecting Kids to Coverage outreach and enrollment funding opportunity is authorized by the bipartisan MACRA legislation. Connecting Kids to Coverage outreach and enrollment funding supports activities aimed at identifying children who are eligible for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and helping their families enroll and renew their coverage. Along with the National Connecting Kids to Coverage Campaign, these activities have helped boost enrollment of eligible children in Medicaid and CHIP. They also have helped to engage a wide range of partners in taking steps to make health coverage outreach and enrollment a part of their routine efforts to ensure the health and security of the nation’s children and their families.
For more information, please visit: http://www.insurekidsnow.gov/professionals/funding/history.html.
More information on the informational bulletin that identifies tools all states can use to enroll and retain eligible children in Medicaid and CHIP can be found here: https://www.medicaid.gov/federal-policy-guidance/federal-policy-guidance.html.