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September 28, 2005

DEAN/ST. MARYS NEIGHBORHOOD ASTHMA CLINIC EARNS AWARD

MADISON, WI – The Wisconsin Hospital Association Foundation has recognized an initiative led by Dean Health System, Dean Health Plan and St. Marys Hospital Medical Center designed to help break down the barriers facing medically underserved patients in its community. The 2005 Global Vision Community Partnership Award was presented to the Dean/St. Marys Neighborhood Asthma Clinic for providing quality screening, diagnosis, education, treatment, including medication assistance, of asthma. This annual competitive grant award is presented to a community health initiative that successfully addresses a documented community health need. The Award, launched by the WHA Foundation, Inc. in 1995, seeks to recognize and support ongoing projects that support improving the community’s health.

The goals of the Neighborhood Asthma Clinic are to improve the identification of asthma and the quality of life for asthma patients; decrease the number of hospitalizations due to asthma; and teach patients and their caregivers asthma self-management. More than two-thirds of the clinic's patients report that the primary reason for a lapse in taking their asthma medication was cost. Clinic collaborators work with pharmaceutical manufacturers to secure donated medications, to the tune of $12,000 per month in free pharmaceuticals.

WHA Foundation Director Jennifer Frank said the Dean/St. Marys Neighborhood Asthma Clinic is a good example of the kind of projects that hospitals sponsor, which are designed to improve the overall health status of their communities.

"The team from St. Marys and Dean Health System identified a need in the community and responded to it by providing leadership and working with community advocacy groups. Because of these efforts, those medically underserved patients diagnosed with asthma are learning to manage their disease and receive assistance in obtaining the necessary medications," Frank added.