Annual Proposal
CHURCH PARTNERSHIPS
EAST LIBERTY FAMILY HEALTH CARE CENTER
2009-2010
What do you want to know about the East Liberty Family Health Care Center? It's just a click away!
- Background
- Finances
- Who Funds the Center?
- Why Fund the Center? (the vital role of church support)
- Budget/Audited Financial Statements
- Stewardship and Accountability
- Opportunities for Extra Mile Giving and Challenge Grants
- Beyond Checkbook Missions - Getting Involved
Our Mission is to witness to God's love, known in Jesus Christ, by offering quality whole person health care to all, especially to the poor.
Our Core Values are:
Christ-centered: "We believe in and are committed to Jesus Christ in all we do. We are dedicated to caring for others in the manner He cares for us, partnering with the Body of Christ."
Prayer: "We access God's presence through prayer & worship, celebrating our limitations and His greatness, sharing our thanks and our needs, and seeking His help and direction."
Responsibility: "We take responsibility for the gifts we have been given and the ministry in which we serve, seeking to efficiently use resources entrusted to us while always searching for new ways to improve."
Family: "We are a community in service together, united as members of God's family; respecting, sharing with, and offering support to one another."
Service: "We are called to compassionately serve others by providing whole-person health care, which includes listening to needs and responding with the necessary medical, emotional, and spiritual support."
Wholeness: "We acknowledge our limitations, place a priority on personal growth, and seek a sustainable balance in our lives."
The East Liberty Family Health Care Center was founded in 1982 in the basement of Eastminster Presbyterian Church, in the heart of East Liberty. The Center is dedicated to "showing God's love, known in Jesus Christ, by providing quality, whole-person health care to all, especially the poor." The Center has been distinctively faith-based since its inception, offering prayer with every visit, but never discriminating on the basis of religion. Every person is made in God's image, worthy of good care, and welcome at the Center. The Center has for over 26 years provided quality "whole-person" healthcare for all people, without regard to ability to pay. It has grown from a three-room office in a church basement to a dual-location, 65 FTE-staff, full-service health care center, and in 1998 opened a second office in Lincoln-Lemington to help accommodate its (now) more than 42,000 patient encounters each year.
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"The Best Healthcare Anyone Can Get - And Anyone Can Get It!"
People often think that healthcare for the poor is second-class healthcare. Since the money isn't there, the quality couldn't be either. This has never been the case at the East Liberty Family Health Care Center. Our track record proves that if you're looking for a primary care provider in Pittsburgh, you couldn't do any better anywhere else.
Every year since 1982, more people have come to the East Liberty Family Health Care Center for their primary health care needs. Fully one-third of these are privately insured families who could go anywhere, but choose the Center because of its quality. In 2008, we provided 42,000+ encounters of "whole-person" care for 8,500 patients, and our most recent patient satisfaction rate was over 95%.
The East Liberty Family Health Care Center operates two comfortable, attractive offices staffed by seventeen doctors and two mid-level practitioners, all of whom have made and kept a long-term commitment to this practice. Appointments are available five days/week from as early as 8:30 am to as late as 8 pm. A doctor is always on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. All our doctors are credentialed by virtually every insurer and every hospital in our service area.
Through our Birth Circle program, we deliver healthy babies. Then, we help young moms raise healthy babies by making sure they keep every immunization visit through age two. Well-child visits typically provide one full hour to fully educate parents about their baby's health.
Certified mental health counselors from Pittsburgh Pastoral Institute are on site every week. Social workers help our patients enroll in Medical Assistance and other entitlement services to support them in their journey toward "whole-person" health.
At the Lincoln-Lemington Office, we have a full-time dentist and hygienist to meet all of our patients' oral health needs. Also at Lincoln-Lemington, when one of our docs writes a prescription, our Pharmacist can fill it on the spot at a price based on income.
All of our practitioners are board-certified, and make a long-term commitment to this ministry, so they can develop their skills as well as their knowledge of the unique needs of our patients. Our doctors audit each others' charts to ensure quality care and compliance with best practices, and our Quality Assurance team meets monthly to improve patient compliance in key areas such as immunizations, diabetes, and hypertension. We measure our performance against federal standards such as Healthy People 2010 to make sure that our care is the best we can give. As a result, we find that our immunization rates are among the highest in Allegheny County, and that our patients are generally doing better at managing chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension than anywhere else. We have lower incidences of prematurity and low-birth weight, higher rates of breastfeeding, and we prevent more than 50 unnecessary hospitalizations annually through our Homebound Elderly Outreach Program. A Safety Net for the Most Vulnerable. Word on the street says that the people in our two East End offices can be trusted. But what about those who can't or won't get to our offices? We're reaching out to meet their needs as well.
We provide more than 2,500 visits for the Homebound Elderly every year, with no maximum number of visits. We stay with our homebound as long as they're alive, keeping them independent and out of the hospital, often helping them die in their homes with dignity and peace.
We go to local Homeless shelters, soup kitchens, and drop-in centers to form relationships with the homeless, and when trust develops, invite them into care at our offices.
We send community workers to the streets of East Liberty every day, helping the addicted get into recovery, treatment, community, and hope.
Our Pediatric Outreach staff goes into the homes of young mothers to educate them and help them manage the health and psycho-social needs of their babies. And our newest outreach venture is training women neighborhood leaders ("Community Ambassadors") to be knowledgeable about prenatal care, pre-conceptual counseling and breastfeeding, and to share that knowledge on the buses, in the beauty parlors, or wherever they go, in order to finally begin to reduce Pittsburgh's unacceptably high rate of black infant mortality.
Taking Time to Care. Most of all, what our patients count on is practitioners who know them by name, and who take the time to care. Our doctors spend two to three times as long as an insurance-driven practice with every patient. They take time to listen to the "whole-person" needs of each patient. At the end of every visit, a doctor and a nurse will offer to join hands and offer prayer for the patient's concerns. Participation is voluntary, and respects the different religious traditions of our patients. But even science is beginning to recognize what the church has known through the ages—the healing power of human touch and Divine prayer.
The East Liberty Family Health Care Center strives to meet the whole-person health needs of Pittsburgh's East End, including East Liberty, Garfield, Larimer, and Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar. All of these areas are a part of an Allegheny County Medically Underserved Area and a PA Health Professional Shortage Area.
The Center's service area faces serious demographic, geographic, and cultural barriers to health care, resulting in several serious health disparities in the area. Residents of the target service area are predominantly low-income (The Median Income is $19,946, 30% lower than the City Median, and 48% lower than the County Median). 57% of those residing in the service area have incomes less than 200% of poverty level, compared to 41% of the City and only 27% for Allegheny County ). And the percentage of persons living in the service area with incomes below 200% of poverty level has risen by 5% since 1990—a negative trend.
Medical Assistance recipients make up approximately 25% of the service area's population, with an estimated 27% completely uninsured. Fully 86% of the service area is minority, 81% African-American and 5% other races. Unemployment is almost 14%, more than double the State and County rates. 23% of the service area's households are single-female headed living in poverty, more than twice as high as the City and four times higher than the County. Health status indicators in the Center's service area are higher than City and County rates across the board.
Board of Directors
| The Rev. Douglas A. Dunderdale The Rev. Paul E. Roberts Ms. Georgette D. Powell Mr. John Millar Mr. Benjamin Butler The Rev. Etta Calvert Steven Evans, M.D. Mr. W. Craig Esterly |
Ms. Floretta Irvin The Rev. Edward Givner Ms. Cheon Graham Ms. Pamela Jenkins Stephen P. Paschall, Esq. Michael T. Wherry, CPA Mr. Reid Carpenter (Emeritus) Mrs. Kristen Wilson |
Staff
Physicians
| David G. Hall, M.D. - Medical Director Eileen Boyle, M.D. - Assoc. Medical Director Gregory Anderson, MD - Pediatrician Diane Balestrino, M.D. - Physician Tricia Bhat, M.D. - Physician David A. Blandino, M.D. - Physician David Ferguson, M.D. - Physician Irene Frederick, M.D. - Obstetrician Frances Irvin, M.D. - Physician Allison Kliber, M.D. - Physician |
Wendy LeMarquand, M.D. - Physician Mark W. Meyer, M.D. - Physician Peter R. Murray, PA-C - Physician Assistant Ruby Shepherd, MD - Physician Betty Mae Tatman, CRNP - Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Theresa Tran, MD - Physician Lynne Williams, M.D. - Physician Stephen A. Wilson, M.D. - Physician Richard K. Zimmerman, M.D. - Physician |
Nurses
| Beverly Friedline, RN - Nurse Mgr. Unellda Berry, RN Erin Bindewald, RN Mary Carter, RN Carol D'Amico, RN (Homecare) Danielle Edgar, RN Alice Maunz, RN (OB/GYN) Kallie Hall, RN Cathy Lucot, RN Lisa Jones, RN Deborah L. Keck, RN (Homecare) Tracee Kirkland, RN |
Julie McCaslin, RN - Charge Nurse Jennifer Pernesky, RN (Chronic Care) Sr. Kari Pohl, RN Lori Porter, RN Becky Rohland, RN - Charge Nurse Sr. Mary Lou Shimshock, RN Sherry Steele, RN Nancy Steffey, RN Renee Teichman, RN (Homecare) Joy Ahn, RN Megan Twichell, RN Bonnie Warden, RN |
Medical & Nursing Assistants
| Ericka Addison-Waite, M.A. (Pediatric Outreach) Kimberly Gillespie, M.A. Tujwina Gonzalez, M.A. (Homecare) Jeressia Johnson, M.A. Tamika Yates, M.A. |
Margaret Johnson, N.A. George Lee Rivers, N.A. (Homecare) Florine Stevenson - Medical Records Melissa Webb - Medical Records Mary Meacham - Medical Records |
Dental Staff
| Suzanne Maslo, D.M.D - Dental Director Jenn Botti, D.A. - Dental Assistant Gwendolyn Bazmore, R.D.H. - Dental Hygienist |
Yulanda Johnson - Dental Admin. Coordinator Lakish Pryor - Dental Admin. Coordinator |
Outreach Staff
| Rev. George S. Steffey - Chaplain/Behavioral Care Director Rev. James Riggins - Chaplain for Church Relations Gordon Jenkins - Assoc. Director/Behavioral Health Marina Dantzler - Mental Health Counselor |
Robert Booker - Addiction Outreach Worker Tammie Brown - Whole-person Case Mgr. David Stewart - Whole-person Case Mgr. Sue Stewart, RN - Whole-person Case Mgr. Sheila Taylor - Prevention Outreach Advocate |
Administrative Staff
| Lynne Medley-Long - Executive Director David R. Brewton - Associate Executive Director Heather Lawrence - Office Manager Andrew Pernesky - Accounts Payable/Financial Manager Rekeita Boyd - Development Associate Melissa R. Antolec - Admin. Coordinator Mgr. |
Debra Walker - Admin. Coordinator (Assoc. Mgr.) Shermaine Alford, MA - Admin. Coordinator Ruth Burns - Admin. Coordinator Catherine Campano - Admin. Coordinator Dee Craig - Admin. Coordinator Mary Forbeck - Admin. Coordinator Nikia Pitts, MA - Admin. Coordinator Diane Schmitt - Admin. Coordinator |
Did you know that the East Liberty Family Health Care Center provides more than 42,000 encounters of whole-person health care and fills more than 18,000 prescriptions each year? All of this now costs approximately $7 million annually to provide. Many partners working together sustain this vital ministry so that it can be available to all who come without regard to ability to pay. Each funding partner plays a specific role in sustaining this ministry.
EARNED REVENUE (55% of total revenue): Our patients participate as much as they can in paying for their care. Minimum fees for the uninsured have been developed to ensure that our non-personnel costs are covered by the patients. Additionally, we are disciplining ourselves to maximize reimbursements from insurers and to make sure our patients are enrolled in every entitlement program they can qualify for. Earned revenue is our largest source of revenue. We maximize this so that every charitable dollar gets stretched as far as possible.
CHURCHES AND INDIVIDUALS (10%). After we do our best to maximize the revenue we can earn ourselves, we rely on local churches and individuals to be not only our financial base of support, but our spiritual base as well. Government and foundation funding alone would not keep the door open for us to pray, share our faith, and show Christ's love by going the extra mile for our patients. That is why your support is our foundation. It is the love expressed by people of faith through gifts of time, knowledge, and money that make "whole-person" care possible. Without the support of local churches, the character of this ministry would be compromised; it would lose an important aspect of its Christian character.
GOVERNMENT (22%). The Center utilizes federal funding (~$1 million per year) to enable it to remain open to the uninsured at the significant level that we do (more than 30,000 visits each year). This valuable, renewable source of funding, when combined with the private, faith-based funds we raise, does not water down our mission. Rather, it calls us to higher levels of accountability. We are proud of the clinical outcomes and measures of financial stewardship that our federal funding requires of us. We are grateful that our federal government recognizes the importance of funding faith-based groups to care for the most vulnerable in our midst.
HOSPITALS, INSURERS, AND CORPORATIONS (3%). Many local hospitals and health insurers, and some businesses share our mission of providing quality healthcare for all people without regard to ability to pay. The Region's largest health providers (UPMC and Highmark) partner with the Center because they've recognized the important role we play in the Region's healthcare Safety Net.
FOUNDATIONS (8%). Local foundations are also strong partners with us, supporting new projects and capital ventures. Most every regional foundation has supported the Center in the past five to ten years. Foundations typically do not want to support the on-going mission of the Center, once again demonstrating the importance of on-going support from local churches.
UNITED WAY (1%). The East Liberty Family Health Care Center is a United Way Agency, so it receives an allocation each year from United Way, designated for our Birth Circle program of pre-natal and obstetric care. Individual donors can also contribute to the Center through United Way's Contributor Choice Program. Our Agency Number in Allegheny County is 338. Our Combined Federal Campaign number is 59537.
Here at the East Liberty Family Health Care Center, we believe that the Body of Christ—His representation here in Pittsburgh in the twenty-first century—must participate in the healing ministry of Jesus Christ. We want to be that part of His body in Pittsburgh today. No single congregation in our region can provide this level of healing ministry, so more than 60 local churches come together each year to support the Center. By so doing, they participate in a ministry of healing that shows special care for the poor, and that integrates the Christian faith into every aspect of its care. We believe that when local churches provide financial resources for the provision of whole-person care, the quality of that care is influenced by the love represented in every gift. We know that we depend on the church in Pittsburgh to be able to provide this care. Without church participation, the distinctive Christian character of our care would be impossible.
Click here to see the Center's operating budget for FY2009-2010
AUDIT
STEWARDSHIP AND ACCOUNTABILITY
The East Liberty Family Health Care Center is fully committed to good stewardship of the resources you entrust to us, and to complete financial accountability. Our financial statements are audited annually by an independent Certified Public Accountant, and are available for review upon request, or by clicking on the link above. We comply with all federal and state regulations regarding the conduct of our ministry and our fund-raising practices. We are registered with the Pennsylvania Bureau of Charitable Organizations. Despite the challenges and administrative necessities of operating in the world of managed care, we strive to keep administrative expenses as low as possible. Should you have any questions about our financial information, do not hesitate to call us at 412-361-8265. Thank you for your review of this material. May Jesus Christ be lifted up in all we do and say.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR EXTRA MILE GIVING AND CHALLENGE GRANTS
We rely on local churches to provide unrestricted grants to support all aspects of this ministry. The Church becomes our spiritual and financial foundation, undergirding all that we do, paying for the spiritual and administrative portions of this ministry that others (especially foundations) will not cover. We would ask every church that supports us to make its primary gift an unrestricted gift.
Sometimes, however, churches want to make an extra gift above and beyond their annual level of support. This year, we have a very exciting NEW venture that we would like our church partners to consider. Simply put, we want to better connect our un-churched patients with local churches in our area. Even with the extra time that our practitioners devote to every patient, we cannot be the primary support system for our patients. That is the function of the local church. Who better could understand the importance of this connection than our existing church partners? That's why we've established the "Church Relations " fund to help us connect our un-churched patients with nearby churches.
THE "CHURCH RELATIONS " PROGRAM
In 2006, the Center's Board of Directors, staff, patients and donors came together to prayerfully adopt a Strategic Plan to guide the Center through 2011. The plan that was adopted has four main points, each of which will be the focus of the next four years: Nimble Structure (2007-08), Neighborhood Partner (2008-09), New Space (2009-10), and National Model (2010-11). The new "Church Relations" Program is the centerpiece of the Neighborhood Partner portion of the plan. Our goal was to raise funds for this program and launch it in 2008.
Since then, we have created and filled a position within the Center called "Chaplain for Church Relations." The Chaplain for Church Relations (CCR), James Riggins, is a licensed minister with exposure to a wide diversity of churches throughout the East End of Pittsburgh and beyond. His mission is to form relationships that build bridges between our un-churched patients and local churches.
The CCR is available to patients (referred by our practitioners) who are not connected with a local church and need the many kinds of spiritual, social, economic, and community helps that only community churches can provide. He arranges contacts, individually and in groups for our patients to discover local churches that are right for them. Health fairs, screenings, revivals, exercise classes, youth programs, mens' and womens' groups are all tools that can be used to connect our patients with local churches. James is also dedicated to meeting local Pastors and getting to know their needs, as well as the whole-person healthcare needs of their parishioners.
As a supporter of the "Church Relations " program, your church would do three things:
Financial Support: Make a financial gift to support the "Chaplain for Church Relations" position. If possible, make this commitment for three years or more so that we can sustain this position. Designate your gift to the "Church Relations" fund.
Informational Support: Identify a liaison from your congregation or staff that will provide our Chaplain for Church Relations with information about your church and its programs. Provide us with your church website address. We will develop a directory of Church Resources to help point our un-churched patients to a church that fits with their needs and gifts.
Relational Support: Agree to a "get acquainted" meeting between our Chaplain for Church Relations and your Pastor, liaison, and perhaps a member of your outreach or evangelism committee. This meeting will be the foundation for the Center to begin referring un-churched patients to your church when they have a need that your church is uniquely qualified to fill.
Capital Campaign – "Whole-person Care for the Whole Community"
If your church would like to make a special one-time gift that will have a lasting impact on this ministry, why not consider a gift to our Capital Campaign? Many times churches which are conducting their own Capital Campaigns choose to tithe on that Campaign for special mission projects such as this.
Some of the key features in the Campaign that you could support include:
- Waiting Room Furnishings: $5,000
- New Exam Room: $10,000
- New Front Desk w/ Privacy: $15,000
- New Dental Exam Room: $20,000
- New Main Entrance: $25,000
If you would like more details about the progress on our campaign and pictures of our plans, please contact Associate Executive Director David R. Brewton at (412) 361-8265 or dbrewton@elfhcc.com.
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
For Mission Committee & Adult Groups
Pray. For twenty-four years, we have known that prayer plays a powerful role in the healing process. Please pray for this ministry and for our patients. Include us in your congregational prayer list. If you have a special gift in prayer, we publish a monthly list of daily requests for the Center and its patients. Call us at 412-361-8265 if you would like to receive our monthly prayer letters.
Tours. We would love to have any person or group from your church come on out to one or both of our East End offices for a tour and (schedule permitting) to meet some of the compassionate practitioners who show Christ's love through health care.
Annual Work Day. If your congregation would like to bring a group of hard working adults (or adults and youth) to get "down and dirty" on a Saturday, we could arrange a one-time volunteer day where we would explain the ministry, show you around, and then ask you to help clean, paint, landscape, de-clutter, or make needed repairs to our highly-utilized offices. Contact us at (412) 361-8265 or dbrewton@elfhcc.com to explore this opportunity.
Office Assistance: We need reliable help in many administrative areas, from telephone calls to pharmacy assistants, to newsletter preparation, to cleaning, to computer document scanning and data entry. We work these out on a case-by-case basis, to suit your schedule and ours.
Homebound Elderly Outreach Program: Volunteers are being sought to make a long-term commitment (a year or more) of at least an hour or two per week to supplement the care and companionship provided by our Homecare Nursing Staff. This is a calling that will require lasting commitment, but which will also provide a tremendous opportunity to develop a caring relationship with someone nearing life's end. Call 412-361-8265 for more information.
Joyful Noise! 2010 10th Anniversary Event Planning Committee. We need volunteers who really know their way around all the details of planning and holding a very special event. We already have seven dedicated volunteers working on this May, 2009 event—the 10th ever "Joyful Noise!" Could your church appoint a liaison to the planning committee that would mobilize the involvement of your entire church in this celebratory fund-raising event? Again, call 412-361-8265 to get involved!
EXCITING PRESENTATIONS FOR YOUR NEXT SUNDAY WORSHIP OR GROUP MEETING!
Cultivate the Desire to Engage in Christ's Mission in Your Church. The best way we can thank churches that support us is by creating opportunities to encourage church members to think about Christ's mission, and to explore how they can become more active participants in what God is doing in the world. When we develop that passion in individual members of a parish, something much greater than a financial transaction occurs: a partnership is formed that can sometimes have life-changing results. Here are some ways we can use our gifts to thank your church for its support:
Music and Mission Program, featuring Dave Brewton at the piano
The Center's Associate Executive Director, Dave Brewton, is a is a much-sought-after church musician. By combining music (sacred or sometimes secular), a touch of humor, and a willingness to share openly about his passion for Jesus Christ, Dave can turn a regular meeting into a truly inspiring—and fun—occasion.
Speakers & An Outstanding Preacher. The Center can provide excellent speakers for Moments for Mission, Sermons, Sunday Schools, Men's or Women's Groups, or any other forum you can come up with. This year we have one of Pittsburgh's finest preachers of God's word available to share a message of Healing and Hope with your congregation: the chairperson of our Board, The Rev. Dr. Douglas A. Dunderdale. Doug is available for a limited number of Sundays to preach. The Center has a host of other excellent speakers available for other church program needs.
Again, to participate in any of the above activities, do not hesitate to call Dave Brewton at 412-361-8265 or dbrewton@elfhcc.com.