Inside the Clinic: A Reason for Hope Edition
Each week, our Executive Director, Anne-Lise Quinn, sends out a Clinic Update to the staff. In an effort to keep our wider community updated about the happenings inside Culmore Clinic, we will be posting an annotated version of this update to our blog each week under the Inside the Clinic tag.
Dearest Community,
I hope you are all well and enjoying these crisp, fall mornings!
On Tuesday night, I went to bed somewhat excited about the future. I realize a lot of people didn’t; but I did. And here’s why:
For three hours that afternoon, I was engrossed in a webinar, hosted by INOVA, entitled “Culture of Health: A Call to Action for Health Equity, Access and Justice” and I learned many things; things that made me feel hopeful; things that made me feel so happy to be part of the Culmore Clinic team.
The keynote speaker, a physician from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, presented some interesting (though disturbing) data on health outcomes among minority groups and the factors that impact those outcomes, to include a wide range of social determinants of health (such as language competency or education level) and structural determinants of health (such as access to affordable housing or transportation) - all factors we know and see as being real barriers to our own patients being able to manage their overall health effectively.
Some of the most notable recommendations the presenter made on how to promote health equity and reduce disparities within the health system were to:
Shift models of care to population health built on strong primary care;
Recognize the importance of health and not just healthcare; and
Engage community resources in promoting health access to real food and safe spaces.
Mmhmm, I said to myself; we are all about those things at Culmore Clinic - and in collaboration with our amazing partners, of course. So, to each of those recommendations: Check! Check! Check!
The presenter also identified the importance of establishing “patient-centered medical homes” and, within them, effective communication, and cultural competence.
Well, that just made me feel incredibly joyful because that is precisely the path that the small but mighty Culmore Clinic is on! And now we have even more validation for our mission and vision and the role we can play in disrupting barriers that inhibit our neighbors from obtaining and maintaining optimal health and wellbeing.
So, I went to bed on Tuesday night focused only on the work of Culmore Clinic and full of optimism that if we remain grounded in the reality that what we do every day really makes a difference; that the future for our precious, but vulnerable patients will be much improved by our steadfast commitment to keeping them healthy, we will have played a significant part in addressing some of the disparities they face. Thank you all for being on this journey with me!
May I end by giving a shout out to the Marymount student nurses who are getting some great clinical experience helping us with flu vaccinations and other tasks. Thank you so much! We hope they will consider coming back after graduation and boarding the Culmore Clinic train headed towards a happier, healthier community for all! Choo! Choo!
Have a great weekend, you amazing human beings!
Onward and upward!
Anne-Lise