By Justin Schneider, Herald Bulletin Staff Writer
ANDERSON — Health insurance is one thing. Access to health care is something else entirely.
Marc Wetherhorn, national advocacy director for the National Association of Health Centers, illustrated the difference and the importance of the Madison County Community Health Center before a crowd of 75 people at Madison Park Church of God on Tuesday.
“The medically disenfranchised are a bigger number than the uninsured,” Wetherhorn said of the 56 million Americans who lack access to health care. “Indiana is better because its health centers are given federal funding.”
Wetherhorn was the keynote speaker for the State of Health Breakfast, which marked its eighth year on Tuesday. Madison County Community Health Center, meanwhile, will celebrate 10 years of serving the uninsured and underinsured locally with a $5 million expansion project in 2009.
Health centers should not be confused with clinics, Wetherhorn said, because they must have 501(c)3 nonprofit status, must serve the general public and must be located in an area that is underserved. The first health centers opened in Mississippi and Massachusetts in 1964 and now serve more than 18 million patients a year.
Wetherhorn said Indiana Health Centers are expected to benefit from $1.5 billion in appropriations from the federal economic stimulus package currently under discussion. But he encouraged residents to appeal to their elected officials to effect change.
“The state of health and the future of health depends on you,” he said. “Don’t depend on people like me. ”
Anthony Malone, president and CEO of the Madison County Community Health Center, spearheaded the effort to treat the underserved in Madison County more than 10 years ago.
“The last 10 years have gone by so fast,” he said. “I won’t try to recall all the victories, the ups and downs. There were many people who doubted the need, even though we had the highest health care costs of any General Motors community.
“I became, simply, the wind beneath the sails.”
State Sen. Tim Lanane, D-District 25, said the Madison County Health Center is one of just 47 or 48 such facilities in Indiana and called its existence an invitation for all to get involved in the public policy debate surrounding health care.
“It has to be a statewide effort,” Lanane said. “By welcoming you to this fine event, we’re welcoming you into this issue.”
Madison County Commissioner Paul Wilson, D-South District, spoke about the prescription drug card program offered by the county. The program attracted just nine users when it began in September 2008, but that number grew to 367 in December. In less than four months, Wilson reported, the program has saved Madison County residents more than $34,000.
“We believe if we can push this, we can go from $34,000 to $134,000,” Wilson said, noting that the card is available at pharmacies throughout the county and through the commissioners’ office at the Madison County Government Center.
Volunteer Norma Schlossberg received the Hope, Trust and Healing Award, presented by Malone.
“I’m proud to be part of an organization that meets the needs of the community,” Schlossberg said.
Shirley Weatherly of the Anderson Board of Public Works spoke on behalf of Mayor Kris Ockomon, who is on a West Coast economic development trip.
Contact reporter Justin Schneider at 640-4809 and justin.schneider@heraldbulletin.com.
Madison County Community Health Center
1547 Ohio Ave. in Anderson
(765) 641-7499
President and CEO
• Anthony J. Malone
Board of Directors
• Rosetta Minnefield, board chairwoman and community relations chairwoman
• Robert Anders, first vice chairman
• Carlton Montague, HR chairman
• William Norton, parliamentarian
• Rev. Freddie Thurman, chairman of auditing committee, corporate compliance and legal advisor
• Joni Brinkman, clinical and evaluation chairwoman
• Lori Alexander, board treasurer and finance committee chairwoman
• Rosalee Bernard, board secretary
• William Ford, board member
• Sharon Lee Long, board member
• Katherine May, board member
• Richard Melton, board member
