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Thank You Dr. McFadden
Thank You, Dr. McFadden for all that was accomplished under your leadership at the Office of Health Equity. As an office, we are all sad to see an energetic and determined leader leave our department, yet are ALL extremely appreciative of what was accomplished. We wanted to highlight some of the great accomplishments that occurred under your leadership and guidance.
- The National Coalition of Black Woman awarded Dr. McFadden the phenomenal woman award in 2017
- While Dr. McFadden was director of OHE, the office received two Governor Proclamations, one in 2016 - Native American for Rural Health Month and in 2015 and 2016- National Rural Health Day.
- During Dr. McFadden's tenure as OHE office director, rural communities in particular saw disturbing increases in narcotics overdoses, both fatal and non-fatal. In 2014, all drug overdose deaths stood at 994 and in 2016 that number is predicted to be 1420, disproportionately affecting rural parts of the state. To help fight this epidemic, SORH funding was used to provide naloxone, the overdose reversal agent, to communities at risk. Partners in Prayer and Prevention offered a webinar on the topic of opioid addiction and prevention to its participating congregations.
- Once state match funds were no longer available, VDH-OHE initiated partnerships with community stakeholders to provide a community match for clinicians who qualify. VDH-OHE initiated partnerships with the Virginia Health Care Foundation (VHCF) to provide the required dollar-for-dollar cash match for health providers applying for the VA-SLRP of up to $150,000. The number of providers funded increased by more than 50%.
- Virginia SORH received the 2016 State Offices of Rural Health Award of Excellence
- Virginia's PCO completed a statewide needs assessment in May and presented it to stakeholders at our annual stakeholders meeting on June 6, 2016.
- Virginia's Health Opportunity Index (HOI) is a unique index developed in Virginia's PCO and updated in 2015 that examines Social Determinants of Health in the Commonwealth. Virginia has combined HOI data with Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's (AHRQ) Prevention Quality Indicators to identify areas in the Commonwealth with both vulnerable populations and high rates of preventable hospitalizations for placement of our Conrad-30 Physicians.
- Dr. McFadden has streamlined the P3 Program." Virginia Partners in Prayer & Prevention (Virginia P3). VDH recognizes the importance of continuous engagement between the VDH central office, local health districts, community partners and partnering congregations. Some of Virginia's congregations have interest in partnership but lack the infrastructure to deploy a health ministry and considering VDH's ongoing need to share health information (such as ZIKA disease info) to communities in timely manner, OHE created the Virginia Partners in Prayer & Prevention (Virginia P3) initiative in May 2016.
- Under Dr. McFadden's leadership, the Virginia Department of Health, Office of Health Equity coordinated the creation of a statewide task force to guide preparedness initiatives related to Zika virus, a mosquito-borne illness with Virginia localities on mosquito surveillance and control programs prior to the start of mosquito season on May 1.
- In 2014, Dr. McFadden established the Virginia's Congregations for Million Hearts initiative, a national and statewide program designed to guide congregations towards a heart-healthy lifestyle. The robust public health initiative enlists the support of the participating congregations to help raise awareness and prevent cardiovascular diseases and focus on hypertension control. Virginia leads the Million Hearts initiative with the most number of registered and participating congregations nationally. Heart attacks and stroke are two leading causes of deaths nationally as well as in Virginia. Although preventable, cardiovascular diseases cost billions in healthcare cost and spending.
- Dr. McFadden has streamlined the YHELI program to address health disparities by eliminating barriers to educational attainment pertaining to health and educational inequities and developing programs/or recommendations for changes. YLELI started in Richmond City, VA and is currently implemented in two high schools in Danville, VA.
- Under Dr. McFadden's leadership, The Virginia Conrad 30 Waiver Program policies were updated and stakeholder involvement increased dramatically. The slots are filled annually.
- Virginia has undertaken a variety of efforts to support Local Health Departments (LHDs) with data. Staff develop online interactive website to make the Health Opportunity Index accessible to multiple users, including LHDs. Similarly staff has participated in VDH's effort to improve Community Health Assessments by creating a series of dashboards for LHD use. Designations staff provided HOI, demographic, education and other social determinant data for the CHA dashboards. Staff has also responded to multiple individual requests from LHDs.
- Under Dr. McFadden's leadership, the State Office of Rural Health expanded partnerships and invested in telehealth for veteran, mobile integrated health, community garden, naloxone training and rural health clinic billing and coding.
- Was active in the General Assembly representing OHE
- Dr. McFadden participated in VA Plan for well-being/VDH Strategic plan
- Dr. McFadden was a member of several committees/collaborative/boards- Oral Health, VCHA, VHWDA to name a few.
- Dr. McFadden help built partnerships with PCA, VHWDA, AHEC, VHP and other agencies
- Dr. McFadden supported numerous grants to support the office- SORH, PCO, FLEX, SLRP, SHIP, YHELI and Dental.
- Dr. McFadden provided guidance to update the Language Needs Assessment/CLAS website, and OHE's website.
- Dr. McFadden oversaw HRSA transition to new shortage designation management system.
Dr. McFadden is a remarkable leader and we all wish her the best as she moves with her fiancé to Louisville. |
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Remote Area Medical Clinic: Wise, Virginia
July 21 - 23
Address: Wise County Fairgrounds
State Route 680 
Wise, VA 24293 United States
Information regarding services provided:
http://ramusa.org/patient-information/
The parking lot at the clinic location will open at 12 a.m. and numbered tickets are distributed on a first come, first served basis at 3 a.m. The clinic doors will open at 6:00 a.m.
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ETSU's Quillen medical students to help those affected by wildfires in Gatlinburg
June 21, 2017 | WJHL, Contributed report from East Tennessee State University
SEVIERVILLE, TN - East Tennessee State University Quillen College of Medicine students taking part in a community medicine clerkship in Sevierville are working on a project to help address the ongoing needs of those impacted by the devastating wildfires that occurred in the area late last year.
"Working in the health clinics there, patient after patient came in and would talk about how the fires affected them, even all of these months later," said rising fourth-year medical student Becky Roland. "So many people were affected, even if their own homes or businesses didn't burn down. I realized that East Tennesseans are strong people, but they may still have a hard time coping."
Groups of approximately 10 ETSU medical students rotate through the Sevierville clerkship for six weeks at a time. The project began with the students who were working in Sevierville just a month and a half after the wildfires ripped through the region, destroying homes, businesses and a large part of the city of Gatlinburg.
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When Sleeping In The Car Is The Price Of A Doctor Visit
June 20,2017 | Sarah McCammon | National Public Radio
Broken teeth are all too often a punchline in conversations about poor people in rural places. But for Heather Wallace, dental problems are anything but funny.
"Basically it's just like a nerve pain. Your whole body locks up; you have to stop for a second to try to breathe," she said. "And sometimes if it hurts bad enough, you might cry."
Wallace and her husband, James, are both in their 20s. In early June, they traveled a couple of hours from Knoxville, Tenn., to a free medical clinic in Chattanooga hosted by the nonprofit group
Remote Area Medical. The Wallaces joined about 100 people camped out in their cars - and a few in tents - overnight to get a morning medical or dental visit.
James Wallace earns about $9 an hour working in hotels, and he said Heather earns a little less. The job barely pays enough to cover groceries, he said, and doesn't come with health insurance or other benefits like dental care.
"We don't have it; we can't afford it, and we don't make enough to be penalized at the end of the year so either which way it goes we don't have the money to pay for it," he said.
Under the
Affordable Care Act, millions more Americans now have insurance through online exchanges and Medicaid. But like the Wallaces, many still lack coverage, especially in states like Tennessee, where elected leaders
declined to expand Medicaid.
The Wallaces were camped out on a blanket outside Red Bank High School in Chattanooga on a Friday afternoon, the day before the clinic was set to open Saturday morning.
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Virginia's Plan For Well-Being
Health begins where Virginians live, work, and play. Virginia's Plan for Well-Being lays out the foundation for giving everyone a chance to live a healthy life. The plan highlights specific goals and strategies on which communities can focus so the state can make measurable health improvement by 2020. Every Virginian deserves the opportunity to be healthy, and you, too, can help make that possible. Join in this effort to assure well-being for all Virginians.
Virginians Live Longer, Healthier Lives
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