Less than ten months after the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, Washtenaw County leaders came together to start planning for implementation. It would be three years until the new Act would be fully implemented, but the group wanted to understand how many Washtenaw County residents were uninsured, how many would be newly eligible […]
In the first three months of 2021, the Washtenaw Continuum of Care (CoC) used a new program to help 23 individuals and 13 families avoid homelessness. The average cost per individual was $73. Just one night in an emergency shelter would have cost about $85. “We’re very excited,” says Andrew Kraemer, CoC data and evaluation […]
This September, WHI Communications Committee Co-Chair Liz Conlin met with Catherine McClary, treasurer of Washtenaw County, to discuss her multifaceted career, including her early history of working for women’s health—both in our county and nationally—and current aspiration to make Washtenaw County a more equitable community by dismantling structural inequalities. Q. You’re a finance person. Can […]
Year joined WHI: 2015 Key focus area: Long term treatment services for people experiencing addiction and those in recovery. Mission: To be a place where people experiencing addiction can go for help, regardless of their drug of choice or ability to pay for treatment. Description of services: Dawn Farm offers a continuum of long-term treatment […]
By the end of the decade, one in four residents in Washtenaw County will be age 60 or over. “The senior population is growing by approximately 2,500 more people every year,” says Jim McGuire, director of research, policy, and advocacy for the Area Agency on Aging 1-B, “and there are now more seniors than children […]
This August, the Washtenaw Health Initiative’s Opioid Project hosted a weeklong social media campaign leading up to International Overdose Awareness Day—a day meant to raise awareness about overdose, reduce the stigma of drug-related death, and acknowledge the grief of families. The group pulled together overdose awareness and educational materials—with a focus on harm reduction messaging […]
This August, WHI Communications Committee Co-Chair Liz Conlin met with Trish Cortes, executive director of the Washtenaw County Community Mental Health (WCCMH) agency, to discuss the significance of mental health funding, new challenges with our behavioral health workforce, plus the impact of local community partnerships and how the WHI has supported the work. Q. What […]
Year founded: 2015 Year joined WHI: 2015 Key focus areas: Dental care Mission: Enhance community health by offering access to quality dental care for all. Description of services: The Washtenaw County Dental Clinic (WCDC) provides quality, compassionate care for low-income uninsured patients as well as adults and children covered by most Medicaid plans, Healthy Kids Dental, […]
Year founded: 1994 Mission: IHA meets community needs through personalized, high-quality health and medical services to its patients to reach patient satisfaction with clinical quality, services, accessibility, and value. Key focus areas: Healthcare provider partnering with Saint Joseph Mercy Health System and Michigan Medicine. Signature programs: Primary Care: offers primary care in family medicine, geriatrics, […]
WHI stakeholders are encouraged to nominate a community health initiative for the WHI’s new collaborative impact award. And we’ve made the process simple. Just email some basic information to WHIhealthcomms@umich.edu by Friday, September 3, 2021, including: A description of the collaborative The name of the organization(s) that led the initiative The impact the collaborative has […]