Hometown Pride

When I began my service year as a member of Health Corps in September, one thing was clear – I had a lot to learn. However, as a Pittsburgh native, I thought that the city was at least one thing I had covered. My service has opened my eyes to a multitude of available resources in the area and, contrary to my expectations, I have learned more about the city that I call home in the past 3 months than in the previous 22 years.

In mid-November Pittsburgh Health Corps members set off on a fall retreat to reflect on our service thus far. One activity during this retreat was to create Community Asset Maps – diagrams which depict community strengths on the individual, community and institutional levels. These maps prompted important discussions about ways in which members can utilize existing resources to increase access to healthcare within Pittsburgh’s underserved populations.  It is easy to be overwhelmed by the rampant problems in the communities we serve, so it was encouraging to frame a discussion around the positive forces working to solve them.

My service site, the East Liberty Family Health Care Center, is a great example of a community asset.  Despite low funding and demanding patient loads, the health center is not a “bare bones” clinic but a place in which patients can come and receive high quality whole person care regardless of insurance status.  Not only do the providers at the office provide excellent physical health care, but the center also provides patients with several services that are outside of the realm of the basics covered by many underfunded health clinics. As the health education specialist AmeriCorps member at my site, I provide the support and coordination necessary to provide some of these additional programs. For example, I offer one-on-one patient education and diabetic retinopathy screenings and each month I organize a visit by a pulmonologist and a diabetic group visit.

The diabetic group visits have been the project I have been most excited about so far during my service year.  Each group comes in every three months and the visit consists of a health education session, a diabetes-friendly nutrition presentation and a private visit with the patient’s primary care doctor. Thus, these visits provide patients with both health education and social support from peers. Moreover, since diabetic patients should visit their doctor every three months, these visits ensure that the patients are utilizing primary care services appropriately.

Many patients who come to our health center are forced to “settle” in many areas of their lives due to access issues but, because they come to East Liberty Family Health Care Center, they do not compromise for their health.  Though I have always been a Pittsburgh fan, I now have more hometown pride than ever knowing the breadth of community assets here that are working towards decreasing disparities in health care.  I am proud to spend my year supporting these initiatives and hope to continue this work in my future career.

Ellie took this amazing shot of Downtown Pittsburgh and Point State Park from the top of Mount Washington during the East Liberty Family Health Care Center's annual fundraiser!