Dr. Aldona Wos, the director of the State Department of Health and Human Services, tours the N.C. Vocational Rehabilitation office on Alamance Road Thursday. Photo by Scott Muthersbaugh / Times-news
During a visit to Burlington on Thursday, N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Aldona Wos called the Medicaid reform plan proposed by her department and endorsed by Gov. Pat McCrory the right one for the state to follow.
Wos talked to reporters as she met with staff at the N.C. Vocational Rehabilitation office in Burlington. She said during her visit she continues to track Medicaid reform efforts being considered by the state. A Medicaid reform plan developed by the state DHHS and backed by Gov. Pat McCrory received approval from the state House and was sent to the state Senate for consideration.
Wos said the Senate’s version would push Medicaid reform too quickly, while the reform plan approved by the House takes a more gradual approach that is “patient-focused and doctor-driven.”
N.C. State Government Internship Program participants on stairway at Broughton Hospital.
(Note: Earlier this month, 23 students participating in the N.C. State Government Internship Program visited Morganton to tour parts of Broughton Hospital and the J. Iverson Riddle Developmental Center. The following are edited reports and observations from the interns.)
Broughton Hospital
One of the oldest and best maintained state psychiatric hospitals in the country, Broughton is something for the eye to behold. It is massive, grandiose and magnificent. Our group entered through two oversized, ornate, oak doors into a foyer with a two story ceiling and double spiral staircases.
CEO Vivian Streater, Dixon Byrd, assistant chief medical officer, accompanied by Scott Sain, director of volunteer services and supervisor of Olivia Horton, 2014 intern, welcomed our group to Broughton and shared some of the hospital history, current treatment practices and answered questions about their careers in public health.
The understanding and treatment of mental illness has evolved since Broughton opened its doors in 1883. In its early years, Broughton’s daily population averaged 3,000 patients. Currently it’s about 250 and the hospital’s bed capacity is 297.
Providing care for an in-patient population of 3,000 required extensive resources. In the early years, patients worked on the hospital farm raising crops and livestock. Some patients lived most of their lives at the hospital and were buried in the on-site cemetery. Today, the average length of stay is 52 days.
“The tour of Broughton Hospital made me realize how far the United States has come in treating mental health since society first saw the problem,” said one of the interns participating in the tour.
Interns meet one of the residents in the horse barn.
J. Iverson Riddle Developmental Center
A quick drive through the country brought us to beautiful J. Iverson Riddle Developmental Center. For many, this was a first experience with residential treatment facilities and the unique needs of the North Carolina citizens who rely on the excellent care provided there.
The group absorbed the scenic expanse of green lawns that surround the cluster of buildings where residents live, work and exercise. Large shade trees line many of the roads and paths, making it comfortable for residents to spend time outside. Residents have full access to a gym, pool, work areas and a full art facility that includes clay, drawing, painting and more. Residents’ artwork is available for purchase by the public at an on-site retail store that is partly staffed by residents.
JIRDC opened in 1963 and provides residential care to full-time residents who are diagnosed with profound or severe retardation or a related developmental disability. A handful of residents living at JIRDC were admitted as children when the center first opened. Currently, most residents are admitted as adults, and once admitted, many will spend their entire life here. Today, most residents are in their forties.
The center’s staff does everything to make this a comfortable home for the residents, and it quickly became evident that this was considered home by the staff as well.
Inclusive recreation activities include horseback riding or water skiing. An on-site machine shop builds custom wheelchairs, beds and even a chair water ski to help residents to be comfortable and active.
One intern shared, “The tour made me realize that there is more to state government than most people realize.”
(Left to right) ORHP’s Heather Dimeris and Sahira Rafiullah are led on tour by Benson Area Medical Center CEO William Massengill.
The United States Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP) visited the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Rural Health and Community Care last week.
The Office of Rural Health Policy coordinates activities related to rural health care within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. As part of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), ORHP has department-wide responsibility for analyzing the possible effects of policy on residents of rural communities.
While in North Carolina, ORHP Deputy Director Sahira Rafiullah and Associate Director and Senior Advisor Heather Dimeris visited a variety of collaborating agencies that have been instrumental in linking research, philanthropy, community, and government entities. They also attended a DHHS Initiated Care Steering Committee meeting which is attended by providers from across the state.
“We are excited to have them here,” said Chris Collins, director of the Office of Rural Health and Community Care (ORHCC). “Our state has done an amazing job networking across agencies. So, we are excited to be able to put that on display and show the impact of collaboration on improving care in rural communities.”
They visited Benson Area Medical Center, a rural health center sponsored by the N.C. ORHCC. Founded in 1979, the Benson Area Medical Center serves more than 11,000 patients, including participants of the North Carolina Farmworker Health Program (NCFHP) that operates a mobile clinic through a federally funded program.
Benson Medical Center participates in National Health Service Corp activities to promote medical careers to rural high school students. Medical students, physician assistant and clinical pharmacy students from Campbell University are provided hands-on training experience.
Benson uses ORHCC recruitment services combined with federal and state loan repayment programs. State appropriations assist Benson’s efforts to care for vulnerable populations. Benson has worked with Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) on the adoption of electronic health records and attaining Medicaid meaningful use. Medicaid funds a Community Care of North Carolina (CCNC) care manager to assist their Medicaid patients.
Benson is a model rural health center that serves the entire community. It provides innovative services on-site such as a trauma room for urgent needs, a food bank to provide fresh produce, hands-on nutrition classes with the Cooperative Extension Office, diabetes group visits, and plans are under way to add financial counseling classes. Understanding the importance of linking with non-traditional partners, Benson’s senior management sits on the boards of local public health, mental health and the housing authority.
“We had such an amazing experience on the NC rural health tour,” said Heather Dimeris. “We met with so many people across such a variety of programs. I have to say that our trip to North Carolina was one of the best site visits I have been on in my 11-year federal career.”
By Ariella Barker, Special to the Observer Posted: Saturday, Jul. 19, 2014
Ms. Wheelchair NC-2014 Ariella Barker met last week with DHHS Deputy Secretary Dave Richard and Jessica Keith to discuss issues that people with disabilities face.
It happens all the time: People shockingly tell me how “beautiful” I am because I’m in a wheelchair. Odd how that works. If you’re attractive and able-bodied, that’s nice. If you’re attractive and a person with a disability, that’s news. People with disabilities should look … well, disabled.
For years, people with disabilities were hidden from society. We were placed in nursing homes “for our own good.” But once the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed in 1990, we left our houses, abandoned our nursing homes and escaped our special education classrooms to join the world at large. But sadly, many of us are still regarded as curiosities.
Consider the way people with disabilities are portrayed in popular entertainment. Too often, we’re shown as child-like, uneducated or a bit “slow,” no matter what our malady. Or, going in the other direction, we’re cast as geeky nerds, or savants. And, almost always, we’re portrayed as asexual – people whose lives end at the waist.
Take “Artie,” for example, the paraplegic character in the popular television show, “Glee.” The guy can’t seem to catch a break. Does he really have to be the only nerd in the glee club? Couldn’t someone besides the student with a mobility impairment have the honor of being the socially awkward one for a change?
In one episode, Artie gets set up on a prom date with – who else? – a wheelchair-bound girl. Why? Because society and the media are ignorant enough to think that this is a perfect match. Think of the statement “the blind leading the blind,” and you’ll understand why this is not a match made in heaven.
Raleigh, N.C. - State health officials are urging North Carolinians to remain diligent in personal efforts to protect themselves from mosquito bites. The reminder comes on the heels of Thursday’s announcement by Florida health officials that they have confirmed the state’s first two locally acquired cases of the mosquito-borne virus known as chikungunya (chik-en-gun-ye). Sometimes referred to as CHIKV, the virus has been spreading throughout the Caribbean and Central and South America, and has now reached the continental United States.
“Until now, people in this country who have become sick with the virus were travelers who acquired the infection abroad,” Acting State Health Director Robin Gary Cummings said. “The cases confirmed in Florida shows that the virus could eventually be transmitted in North Carolina as well.”
So far this year, the nine cases that have been confirmed in North Carolina were people who recently traveled to the Caribbean. Chikungunya virus is transmitted through the bite of an infected mosquito, and the Asian tiger mosquito that is commonly found in North Carolina could effectively transmit this virus. At this time, there have not been any cases of the disease known to have been acquired in North Carolina.
Dr. Cummings strongly encourages residents to take precautions against mosquito bites at home as well as when traveling to places that already have chikungunya and other mosquito-borne viruses.
Since becoming law, the ADA has brought about changes to benefit people with disabilities in the United States. The following is a Top 10 list of what the Act provides or requires:
Equal employment access for qualified disabled people
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission enforces ADA employment provisions
Protections similar to those established by civil rights laws
Removal of physical barriers in buildings
Access to certain state/local government services
Provides effective communication for Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Universal design changes to curb cuts, ramps; lifts on buses
No discrimination on basis of disability in state and local government services
No discrimination on basis of disability by public accommodation
Defines work and tasks service animals may perform for people with disabilities
By Dr. Conrad Flick, published in News and Observer, July 21, 2014.
I am a family physician who has practiced full time in Wake County for over 20 years. Over the past 16 months, a tremendous amount of hard work has gone into a Medicaid reform plan that is good for taxpayers, patients and providers.
The state House of Representatives unanimously passed a reform plan that continues to be supported by physicians, hospitals and the governor’s administration. Despite this consensus and compromise, the Senate has chosen to move forward with its own proposal.
The Senate’s latest budget and its specific plan for Medicaid will turn North Carolina’s Medicaid program over to out-of-state corporate managed care, siphoning scarce dollars away from actually caring for the people of our state. The proposal will likely also bury independent physician practices under a mountain of administrative and regulatory burdens.
Facing Senate opposition to his Medicaid reform plan, Gov. Pat McCrory came to Greensboro Monday to make his case and drum up support as the legislative session winds down.
Flanked by N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Aldona Wos and state Medicaid Director Robin Cummings, McCrory spent the afternoon at Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital, meeting with hospital officials and physicians for a roundtable discussion and visiting Cone Health’s Center for Children.
“Literally the next week could make or break whether or not we take action or whether we would have to wait again until the next long session,” McCrory said. “The further we get behind, the less we can anticipate for future costs, and the more difficult it’s going to be to budget.”
Though unwilling to release specific numbers at this point, Wos reported that the state is prepared to announce that for the first time in the last five years Medicaid expenses did not outpace the state’s Medicaid budget following years of millions in overruns.
A passion for drawing helped Da’Sean Clark win a first place this month in the Hazard Recognition and Awareness poster contest for children of state employees sponsored by the N.C. Office of State Human Resources.
Da’Sean is the son of Latina Shelley, an office admin employed at the Walter B. Jones Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment Center in Greenville. Shelley’s husband, Octavius Shelley, also works there as a health care technician. They brought Da’Sean along with younger daughter Meyari Shelly, from their home in Winterville to attend the award ceremony held July 16 in the State Capitol.
Secretary of Transportation Tony Tata presented Clark with a certificate signed by Gov. Pat McCrory for his top finish in the 14- to 17-year-old category.
Certificates were also presented to the other young artists whose efforts were among the top picks in two other age categories. DHHS Deputy Secretary for Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities Services Dave Richard met Da’Sean’s family and congratulated the young artist for his winning entry. A blue first-place ribbon was affixed to the upper left corner of his entry.
For Da’Sean, his poster was a labor of love. The 16-year-old rising senior at South Central High School in Winterville has been drawing since he was five. “I really like the superheroes,” he said of his drawing focus. “Mostly The Hulk and I like Spiderman, too.”
In remarks preceding the presentation of certificates, Tata thanked all the entrants and staff who organized and coordinated the contest. “Prevention of accidents is really the coin of the realm here,” he said. “You never know what accidents didn’t happen.”
McCrory proclaimed June Safety and Hazard Awareness Month and the poster competition arose from that focus. Neal Alexander, director of the State Office of Human Resources, opened the ceremony reminding the honorees, their parents and others attending that all accidents are preventable. “We want zero accidents. We’re pushing out additional safety and hazard recognition training for our managers and supervisors and eventually to all our employees,” he said.
Alexander presented each of the children attending 2015 calendars bearing their artwork printed by the Department of Correction.
DHHS Secretary Aldona Wos spent a day in Wilmington last week visiting regional DHHS offices, meeting with staff to hear about their successes, concerns and challenges and to thank them for the services they provide to citizens of North Carolina. Stops included the Wilmington offices of the Division of Services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services, the Cape Fear Children’s Developmental Services Agencies, and the New Hanover Department of Social Services. Stops also included a visit with doctors to discuss Medicaid reform at New Hanover Regional Medical Center and a stop at the New Hanover County Department of Public Health.
Ruth Miller is assisted by Pam Kennedy-Scholar, management support staff at WIC, at the Onslow County Health Department in Jacksonville Wednesday morning. Recently, the staff at WIC received training to use a new electronic program called Crossroads, which should reduce paperwork and increase efficiency.
Photo by Maria Sestito/The Daily News
Area mothers taking part in the Women Infants and Children program at the Onslow County will notice a change starting this week: less paperwork and more personal interaction with the staff.
The WIC program locations at both the Onslow County Health Department and Camp Lejeune have begun using the Crossroads Management Information System, which automates the paper-based system that has been used for WIC operations.
This week’s transition in Onslow County is part of a gradual roll-out of the Crossroads system at local agencies statewide. The process began in May and continues through mid-October.
Carteret County began using the system the week of June 23, and the Duplin County Health Department also made the switch this week. The health department in Jones County will follow in September.
