ECRMC, Comite Civico lead asthma awareness efforts
With the goal of reducing the number of asthma-related hospitalizations and identifying the factors that cause them, the Imperial County Board of Supervisors ratified the recommendation of the Local Health Authority Commission to fund projects submitted by El Centro Regional Medical Center and Comite Civico del Valle.
A total of $500,000 in funding was distributed from the Imperial County Asthma Linkages Project, a three-year initiative funded by California Health and Wellness through the Local Health Plan Agreement with the county. ECRMC and Comite Civico del Valle were awarded a $250,000 grant each.
The objective of the project is to increase prevention, education and early intervention services through policy, systems and/or environmental-change strategies and interventions to help improve health outcomes for low-income residents in the Valley.
“We have developed two excellent projects that will help reduce the rate of asthma in the community,” said Robin Hodgkin, director of Imperial County Public Health Department. “Both will develop integrated care teams that will manage and help patients better manage their asthma in a clinic setting and at home.”
The project is important for the community due to the prevalent rate of asthma along with the rate of asthma-related hospitalizations. California Breathing, a division within the state’s Department of Public Health, estimates that in Imperial County more than 23,000 of the residents have been diagnosed with asthma and according to its most recent data, the county’s emergency room visits related to asthma are more than double the rate for the state.
“I would like to thank you on behalf of all the patients that will benefit from this funding, this is a great win for us as we continue to fight asthma,” ECRMC Chief Executive Officer Adolphe Edward told the board.
Funding was prioritized to the organizations that submitted a strategic plan with goals that align with the California Accountable Communities for Health Initiative which requires a comprehensive plan that links and reinforces strategies and include: integrated quality standards and metrics, defined highrisk targets, clinical-community linkages, patient and provider satisfaction and sustainability.
Among the objectives for both ECRMC and Comite Civico del Valle are to expand on education and preventive measures to curb the number of local patients who end up in an emergency room.
ECRMC will focus most of its resources to work with their current patients at their asthma clinics in El Centro and Calexico, also provide home visitations and share information on resources with schools to expand awareness of what asthma is.
“We want to have an impact on asthma by working with our patients to know how to self-manage their symptoms at home and connect them with their medical providers, teach them identify triggers and how to avoid them,” said ECRMC director of Cardiopulmonary Services Torrie Staten-Estrada.
Executive Director for Comite Civico del Valle Luis Olmedo said the main focus of his organization will be to offer a more personalized care for the patients and ensure they are following through the different levels of care they receive.
Part of their approach will also emphasize home visitations and try to identify what are the social determinants and barriers that impede local patients from seeking the treatment they need before it’s too late. Olmedo said some possible factors include language, economic status and lack of transportation.
“It (this effort) goes beyond being a funded program for asthma. We have an opportunity to create a model here that could be replicated in the rest of the state,” he said.