Advocating for More Accessible Health Care in Rural Areas
Finding ways to make health care more accessible in rural areas is a passion of mine. Rural Americans face a wide range of health disparities compared with their urban counterparts. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) more than 46 million Americans, or 15 percent of the U.S. population, live in rural areas as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau and are more likely to die from heart disease, cancer, unintentional injury, chronic lower respiratory disease, and stroke than their urban counterparts. Residents of rural areas in the United States tend to be older and sicker than their urban counterparts.
Grant to Support Family Medicine Residency Program Rural Health/Maternal Health Initiative
A three-year $750K HRSA grant to the University of Rochester Medical Center will support the training of Family Medicine residents in a rural setting and help increase access to Family Medicine and Obstetrics for historically marginalized and low-income rural residents and all women of reproductive age in Allegany, Livingston, Steuben and Wyoming counties.
New Inpatient Pain Management Consultation Service Introduced at Highland
Highland Hospital is now offering inpatient pain management consultations. Dr. Chin-Lin Ching, Director, Palliative Care Division at Highland and Dr. Rajbala Thakur, Director of Cancer Pain Services at URMC and Palliative Care Consultant, and their departments are working in collaboration to offer the service which will expand advanced medication and procedural options to relieve pain.
Highland Physician Leader Reflects on Commitment to Community
Bilal Ahmed, M.D., was a young boy living in Pakistan when he was first influenced by his parents’ commitment to helping the underserved in their community. “My parents drove home the point that we are here to serve others,” he said. “They strongly believed that we should care for the people around us and that whatever you give comes back to you. They truly embraced the philosophy of caring for your fellow human kind.” Their example inspired Dr. Ahmed and his brother to create and support human service programs nationally and internationally.
Meet Highland's Integrated Medical Family Systems Consultant
JaCon Canese Washington, D.Min., M.C.P.C. is Highland Hospital's first Integrated Medical Family Systems Consultant, transitioning from her previous role as Senior Chaplain of the Spiritual Care Department. In this new leadership role, Dr. JaCon works collaboratively with Highland’s nursing, medical, and other interdisciplinary teams, as well as sickle cell patients, to build an awareness about sickle cell disease (SCD) and the challenges both patients and staff confront with long-term and repeated hospitalizations to treat chronic debilitating pain.