@NAHC NAHC’s Response to the Affordable Care Act By, Sandra Tavel Grants and Contracts Administrator
The Supreme Court ruled the Affordable Care Act as constitutional in late June as many people celebrated the idea that in 2014, uninsured people will have newly created access to health insurance. At NAHC, where we believe health care is a right and not a privilege, we are preparing for this new law to take effect in the midst of much uncertainty. The U.S. economy and the 2012 election are two large factors to consider, as well as how California is currently implementing this law. The whole health care model is changing, nationwide. This means, NAHC is also changing to meet the needs of our patients and comply with this law that we fully support. We started this work about a year ago:
enable us to provide quality services. Some of our agency goals include strategic planning and accreditation. Strategic planning is a fancy word for a roadmap that takes you where you want to go. We have already begun creating goals and objectives within each department that will create an overall agency work plan that will be reviewed quarterly to see if we are meeting the goals when we said we would. We are moving toward a patientcentered-health-home model aimed at making our patients the very center of our care (click to see enlarged image):
As an organization, we asked our employees what they care about (their values) at work and at home. We surveyed over 100 staff whose responses translated into 7 values that guide our work as an agency: •
Community
•
Teamwork
•
Tradition
•
Integrity
•
Service
•
Responsibility
•
Learning
Through this interactive work with staff, we realized that no matter how much the outside world changes, we hold these values and let them guide us as we move through the unknowns. After we defined our values, we set up four poles that hold up our work and set the foundation along with our values: 1.
Quality of Service
2.
Operational Processes
3.
Workplace of Choice
4.
Clinic of Choice
We realized we have to become as our Chief of Operations, Ana O’Connor, says, “a business with a heart.” This means we hold our patients’ needs as the center of all we do and have sound and healthy processes that
Another item we are preparing for is accreditation. Accreditation for clinics means that an outside, authoritative body has deemed that we meet a certain standard. This means peace of mind for our patients that they are indeed receiving the best possible services. It also places NAHC in a favorable position for insurance plans to contract with and receive reimbursement for providing services. Lastly, everyone is working on access and capacity. This means, all departments are asking themselves if it’s easy for patients to get to us—can they find us; call us; and reach us to get what they need? Do our patients know what our services are and whom to contact? These might seem like simple, obvious questions—and they matter. Health care reform—which is called the Affordable Care Act—is an exciting, positive law aimed at providing access to all uninsured people without health care. As an agency, we are really exploring and actively changing how we do things to meet our patients’ needs and to thrive into 2014 and beyond. Resources on the Affordable Care Act can be found here: http://www.healthcare.gov/law/resources/ca.html
HR Buzz Employee Assistance Program
New Faces @NAHC
By: Natalie Aguilera, Director of Human Resources
Welcome to the Native American Health Center!
NAHC would like to support employees in their wellness efforts and looks forward to expanding wellness resources available to staff. One program currently offered by NAHC is the Employee Assistance Program (EAP). EAP is designed to provide balance between your personal and work life. When you have questions, concerns or emotional issues surrounding either your personal or work life, there are resources to help you. You have unlimited access to consultants by phone, resources and tools online, and up to three face-to-face visits with counselors for help with a short-term problem. Your wellbeing, productiveness and happiness depend on balancing your life at home and your life at work. It’s difficult to be on task at your job if you’re worried about problems at home; and you can’t devote sufficient time to yourself and your family if you’re feeling overwhelmed by the demands of the job.
Dr. Alanna WeissmanWard, Clinic Physician 7D + SF Medical
Dr. Harpreet Wasson Dentist, SF Dental
Lauren McDonald, Registered Nurse Jesuit Volunteer SF Medical
Tania Ochoa Miranda Medical Receptionist, SF Medical
Theresa Meinert Registered Nurse, Jesuit Volunteer 7D Medical
EAP can assist in, but is not limited to the following areas: health, emotional well-being, Addiction & Recovery, Parenting & Childcare, Education, Retirement, Financial, Legal, Managing People, and Everyday Work Issues. The EAP is free and can be accessed 24 hours a day: 1-800-854-1446: English 1-877-858-2147: Spanish www.lifebalance.net; user ID and password: lifebalance If you are interested on being a part of a committee that focuses on Employee Wellness or if you have any questions concerning the EAP program, please contact a member of the Human Resources Department at HumanResources@nativehealth.org
September Anniversaries Thank you for your work! Name
Department
Start Date
Years of Servic
Lorena C.
Rivera
Central Registration
9/10/2010
2 years
Nicole A.
Hilts
Oakland Medical
9/11/2003
9 years
Jessica A.
Gutierrez
Oakland Medical
9/12/2011
1 year
Jason
Ching
Oakland Dental
9/14/2011
1 year
Valerie N.
Black Calf
CWD
9/19/2011
1 year
Jordan S.
Paul
CWD
9/19/2011
1 year
Ronni E.
Brown-‐Kimbrew
SF Dental
9/21/2007
5 years
Kathryn
Budd
CWD
9/24/2007
5 years
Courtney M.
Cummings
CWD
9/26/2009
3 years
Patricia C.
Want
Admin
9/6/2005
7 years
Laree T.
Wilson
Oakland Dental
9/8/2011
1 year
David
Lichtenstein
Admin
9/9/2011
1 year
ce
Celebrating California Indian Day By: Tommy Orange, Multimedia Manager
California Indian Day is on September 28th this year, and, while it is nice that we get a paid day off, it’s important to take a moment to appreciate California Tribes, and the people whose land we are on. The celebration of Native American/American Indian and Alaskan Native Heritage (how and when to celebrate) is something not entirely agreed upon. (Like so many issues in our communities, with good reason of course) For instance, while there is a California Native American Day website, it is not a day the State of California, or the Country observes - or, at least, never in my experience have I heard the day mentioned aside from while working at NAHC. This is true even though in 1968, Ronald Reagan signed a resolution calling for a holiday called American Indian Day, to be held the fourth Friday in September. This is true even though in 1998, the California Assembly passed AB 1953, which made Native American Day an official state holiday. But, like I said, I’ve still never heard of anyone acknowledging it, observing it, or even talking about it. Instead, what I’ve seen is that we wait a few weeks, and we join the rest of the Nation in celebrating Columbus.
Recently the Native American Health Center has been making efforts to acknowledge and engage with California Tribes. On August 18th, NAHC staff visited up North (Klamath, CA) for the Yurok Tribe’s Annual Salmon Festival. NAHC had a table out for Healing Circle (our CA technical assistance grant) outreach, and for the Native Youth Wellness Initiative (NYWI), which is a Native Youth Suicide Prevention grant. One of the requirements for this grant is to have (at least) 500 Native California Youth watch a Suicide Prevention Video that was created and produced by our Youth Fellows (They are part of the NYWI Team). The Yurok Tribe’s presence was strong, full of pride, tradition, and an openness to our staff, and to all who attended the Salmon Festival. All day the youth played stick games, and vendors filled the field just outside of the Yurok Community Center. The sun came out around 1pm after burning off the fog of the morning, and everyone went home happy, and full. On October 5th, the NYWI team will return to Klamath CA, for the beginning of a youth exchange with the intent to unify and strengthen the relationship between Reservation and Urban Native Youth. If you’re not sure how to celebrate California Indian Day on September 28th (besides just doing whatever you want on your day off), September 8th is Ohlone Day in Felton, CA (Near Santa Cruz), and there will be a celebration of the Ohlone people with Traditional Ohlone dancers, basketry, songs, stories, games, and food. No plans this weekend? Head down to Felton, CA. The main entrance to Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park is located off of Highway 9 in Felton at 101 Big Trees Park Rd Felton, CA 95018. This event is appropriate for all ages. More information is available at (831)335-7077.
Slaughter by the Water III A Smashing Success
By: Nadine Arqueza, Community Services Program Intern
crowd to tears. NAHC’s Youth Services Program was accompanied by the HIV prevention program, which offered free testing and safe sex packets, and the Youth Fellows Program, which successfully raised funds to support talented youth in pursuit of higher education.
The third annual Slaughter by the Water (SBW) concert held on August 25, 2012 aboard the USS Hornet Aircraft Carrier on Alameda’s Pier 33 was a smashing success, a daylong event marking the beginning of a beautiful and somewhat unlikely partnership between the Bay Area Native American community and a heavy metal concert. The NAHC and the SBW production team became acquainted only four months ago according to NAHC Events Coordinator Jordan Skye-Paul and SBW chief marketing officer Nicholas Gomez (Costaoen and Papago). The relationship which blossomed due to mutual passion for cultivating meaningful change through the talents and services of up-and-coming Native entrepreneurs and nonprofit organizations. Alongside raising awareness of NAHC’s mission to sustain meaningful change in our community, Slaughter by the Water provided fifteen rising native nonprofits and entrepreneurs a valuable promotion platform, from the Whole Heart Native Warmth Project: an organization partnering with Hearts of the Sacred Spirit to provide warm blankets to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota to Crystal Wahpepah’s delicious fry bread.
Slaughter by the Water drew an estimated crowd of 1,500, composed of diehard metal fans to first timers, generating substantial visibility for NAHC’s Native Youth Wellness Initiative: a holistic suicide prevention effort providing health care, therapy, and personal support for at risk teens. NAHC youth screened a heartfelt video onstage and at NAHC’s main booth, a performance that moved some in the
In addition to showcasing NAHC and upcoming native talent was Slaughter by the Water’s amazing performers. The bicycle powered stage, courtesy of Rock the Bike and hosted by Chuck Billy of Testament, was graced by the likes of Zombie Holocaust, Scars of Envy, Mudface, Hemotoxin, Necrosin, Desecrater, and Enemy In Peril through the afternoon. The evening’s chilly winds were fired up by the performances of Exodus, Philm, Autopsy, Absu, Impaled, Abysmal Dawn, Witchaven, Fog of War, and Severed Fifth.
The NAHC staff, from youth to metal noobs like me, was moved in many ways by last Saturday’s on and off stage performances, from expanding our musical horizons to spreading NAHC’s mission to an increasingly diverse and younger generation. 2012 marks not only the third production of Slaughter by the Water, but NAHC’s 40th anniversary as an organization, accomplishments which herald an exciting realm possibility for expanding our organization, from maintaining our new founded partnership with Slaughter by the Water to brainstorming other exciting opportunities to enact the changes we wish to see in our community.
Rock the Native Vote!
By: Tommy Orange, Multimedia Mangager Community Wellness Department The November Presidential Election is coming up in just 2 months, are you registered? Do you know who you’re going to vote for? What the important issues are for you district? Do you care? In the 2008 election, over 1 Million eligible American Indian or Alaskan Natives did not register to vote. For some, in Native Communities, voting requires having a basic trust, or faith in the US Government, and without that basic trust or faith, voting can seem like just another empty gesture. But things aren’t as simple as not trusting, and just not participating, if we don’t speak for ourselves, someone will speak for us. Recently I was talking to a former staff member, Seprieono Locario, who now works in DC, and he said, “What they say on the hill is that if you’re not at the table, then you’re on the menu.” We can’t let that be the case for us. Many Native people are taking strong political positions, and actively fighting to address the disparity and specific needs of Native Communities all over the Country.
Graphics provided by: www.nativevote.org
One such person is staff member Katherine Lewis’ (Community Wellness Department Counselor) brother, LT. Gov. of the Gila River Tribe, Stephen Lewis. Last week Mr. Lewis met with many other Native American leaders from across the country at the Democratic National Convention, where they discussed the importance of the Native vote, and many other matters effecting Indian Country today. “The important thing is the Native vote, that importance has been really showing more and more in certain races within the last three, four voting cycles,” Mr. Lewis said. Mr. Lewis points out that Obama appointed Native people to certain key administration posts, including Dr. Yvette Roubideaux, a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota as head of Indian Health Services in 2009, and, he says, “Those departments that are critical to Indian issues and Indian Country, he’s put key members of Native American professionals in those staff positions, for tribes working with the dFederal Government, that goes such a long way.”
This election year, 42% of Native people are under 25, and 1/2 of these people will be eligible for the first time for voter registration. Let’s encourage our young people to register, and help them if they need help. Because in the end it’s not so much important how or who you vote for, but just that you decide to vote. September 24th through the 28th is Native Vote Action Week, and we will have Health Center staff at each site during the week (Monday in Oakland, Tuesday in SF, and Wednesday in Richmond) to help anyone who needs help with the registration process. This event will also be a community and staff photoshoot, where participants will have the opportunity to express why they believe voting is important.
(Stephen Roe Lewis and Katherine Lewis)
To register to vote online, there is a link from our website’s (www.nativehealth.org) homepage to www.nativevote.org, where they make the registration process simple and easy. Help get out the Native Vote!
Diabetes Screening Day!
By: Laura McLively, Clinic Dietician
Diabetes is an issue in our community and the earlier we catch it the better! Diabetes screening is a great way to catch diabetes in people who do not realize they have it. Please help us have a great turnout for the screening.
Date Class
Details
Sept 6
Special Topic
Nutrition BINGO!!!
Sept 13
Special Topic
Diabetes Screening Day
Sept 20
Fitness Class
Strength Training with DynaBands
Sept 27
Cooking Demonstration
Mexican Makeover
Oct 4
Diabetes Class
Diabetes Q&A
Oct 11
Special Topic
Helping YOU Prevent the FLU
Oct 18
Fitness Class
Chair Aerobics
Oct 25
Cooking Demonstration
Scrumptious Squash
By: Kelly Castel, Intake Coordinator Community Wellness Department
I thought I’d share this lovely pic that Cindy Blacksmith and I were fortunate to be a part of. We attended the 30th Annual CCC Consortium in which Nancy Pelosi was honored. She was gracious enough to spare us a few minutes of her time, and to share with us how she fought to have a provision added to Health Care Reform that included the Indian Health Service. It was a honor to have met with her.
Meeting Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, 8th District of CA
Native Foods Resource Guide
Get Yours Today!
By: Bonney Hartley, Community Services Program Director Community Wellness Department We recently released our 1st edition of a CWD Native Foods Resource Guide! This is a guide with info we gathered to provide CWD staff with pricing lists and order info for Native-owned food businesses nationally we can purchase from, names and menus of local Native food caterers and presenters, and Native foods recipe resources. On the fence about using it? Laura Cedillo from HIV Program provides the following testimonial: “We’ve been enjoying the mouthwatering salmon ordered from Taku smokeries and corn mush flour from the Oneida cannery. I like that we are eating healthy while supporting Native vendors.” If you’re interested in receiving a copy outside of the Community Wellness Department, contact Lina Blanco at NAHCMedia@nativehealth.org and we will provide you with a copy!
Young Warriors Society Leads a Prayer Walk By: Dallas Wahpepah, Youth Coordinator Community Wellness Department
The Native American Health Center’s Young Warrior’s Society group helped lead a 30 mile prayer walk on the Ohlone Trail which starts in the Del Valle Regional Park located in Livermore Ca, and ends at Mission Peaks of the Fremont hills. Cultural consultant/Youth Worker Redhouse Poncho who co-organized the prayer walk created a prayer staff; a spear made of obsidian, buffalo fur, white Oak, and prayer ties. Redhouse conveyed that “The staff represents protection, not to harm others with violence, but to protect against the evil forces of drugs, poverty, sickness, and alcoholism.” At the beginning of the trail, we gathered in a circle; an intergenerational unification of men. Each fellow walker offered tobacco, and joined in signing ceremony songs to begin this sacred journey. The Ohlone trail is one of rigorous terrain; starting with the Big Burn; an intensive five mile incline. Throughout this journey you are compelled to look within yourself to find strength. Each stride you are met with personal and group challenges. In the first day, we covered sixteen miles then hiked 14 miles the following day. The resiliency, the
commitment exhibited by the young men to their prayer is inspiring to say the least. Throughout the day your equipment increasingly gets heavier yet faith within prayer strengthens the spirit and mind even more; surpassing any physical hardships. The staff was carried by each brother, sometimes to give spiritual strength to those who struggled. When you see a young man pick up his peer or mentor who is having a hard time and carry his Backpack; it leaves an impression that can’t be forgotten. That act of love makes you want to help others even more. And when I hear an 18 year old tell his peer to “keep praying, remember who you are praying for” those encouraging words flourish a beautiful feeling of hope and happiness. At the end of our prayer walk heading down mission Peak, Young Men’s group member Jason Hoffman carried the staff to our destination. An overall glow of relief emitted from Jason’s smile, later he would express that “at times I struggled during the walk, I trailed the group throughout our hike, yet I’m the one that brought in the staff.” I encourage my fellow NAHC co-workers to continue supporting our Native youth, especially with their traditions and culture. For it is a vital part of our lives as Indian People and is an essential form of intervention for our youth. The Young Warrior’s Society meets every Thursday from 5pm-8pm in the Youth Services Department at 3124 International Boulevard in Oakland, California.