23 NORTHERN MANHATTAN ORGANIZATIONS JOIN TOGETHER TO RAISE AWARENESS OF THE CRISIS OF THE UNINSURED

New York, March 11, 2003 - Columbia University, Harlem Hospital Center and Alianza Dominicana, Inc. are joining together with health care practitioners, community leaders and community-based organizations to host a series of community and campus events to raise awareness of the crisis of the uninsured.

Forty-one million Americans currently lack health insurance in the United States, including an estimated 1.6 million in New York City. In northern Manhattan, where the number of uninsured is higher than the city’s average, approximately 147,000 or 28 percent of the population is without health insurance.

“Lack of health insurance for families in New York City has reached epic proportions,” said Dr. Thelma C. Davidson Adair, a veteran community advocate and educator. “It is my hope that this initiative will not only raise awareness but mobilize community leaders and elected officials to continue to advocate for our uninsured families.”

For many Americans, the high cost of coverage is the primary barrier keeping them from obtaining health insurance coverage. However, in Harlem and Washington Heights/Inwood, the lack of health insurance is especially problematic, where culture and language barriers, compounded with substandard social and economic status, make the problem of access to health care much more complex.

“There are many myths about who is uninsured. One of the most common myths is that that the majority of those without health insurance are unemployed. This is simply incorrect. The uninsured are all around us. They are our family, friends and neighbors. They are of different ages and different ethnicities, and the majority of uninsured work two or three jobs that for many reasons do not offer health insurance,” said Moisés Pérez, Executive Director of Alianza Dominicana, Inc, the lead agency for facilitated enrollment in northern Manhattan.

For the last five years, Columbia University’s Northern Manhattan Community Voices Collaboration has been working with residents in northern Manhattan to help reduce not only the number of uninsured but to build lasting community collaborations to increase the number and quality of health care services available to the uninsured and underinsured.

This week as part of Cover The Uninsured Week, Columbia University’s Northern Manhattan Community Voices Collaborative and Community DentCare Network have brought together 21 northern Manhattan organizations to provide additional health care resources for residents in northern Manhattan. Through its ongoing sponsorship of Columbia University's mobile dental clinics, Crest Healthy Smiles 2010 has joined these organizations by providing free Crest products, educational materials and access to dental professionals with the goal to help children attain healthier smiles and affect real change in the state of the community's oral health. Throughout the week, northern Manhattan residents can take part in free health screenings for blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose, and oral health. Information on programs for asthma, immunizations, and tobacco cessation will also be available.

Additionally, throughout the week, facilitated enrollers will be at seven school-based clinics to identify and register community members eligible for New York State sponsored health insurance.

On Thursday, March 13th Columbia University’s Center for Community Health Partnerships will host a seminar Covering The Uninsured: A National and Local Crisis for members of Columbia’s Health Sciences community. On Friday, March 14th Columbia’s Health Sciences students will have a luncheon to discuss the uninsured and their role as future healthcare leaders.

“Lack of health care coverage affects all of us, not just the uninsured and their families,” said Dr. Allan J. Formicola, Vice Dean for Community Health Partnerships at Columbia University. “For the individual it means he or she is less likely to receive preventive care, diagnostic tests, and the appropriate medical interventions. For medical institutions it means increased emergency room use and longer waiting periods. For the community it means indirect costs to taxpayers, and most importantly, the loss of human potential.”

Cover the Uninsured Week in New York is funded by the United Hospital Fund, The Commonwealth Fund, Health Plus, Pfizer, Inc and The New York Community Trust and The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the nation’s largest philanthropy dedicated exclusively to improving the health and health care of all Americans. The California Endowment and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation are also providing significant funds for events throughout the nation.