FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 05, 2003
Medical Teams Reunite to Meet Children’s Needs
80-100 children to get needed surgeries in Redding
Contact:
Ann Murphy, M.D.
Shasta Community Health Center
530/246-5710
Note: The California Medical Association is a proud sponsor
of this event, the third of its kind in Shasta County since 2000. Orange County
physicians are once again providing needed surgeries, and their efforts led to
CMA-sponsored statewide legislation that would assist in holding these "fly-ins"
all over the state in the future. For assistance in contacting those associated
with this event, call Karen Nikos, CMA Media Relations, 213-630-1139
Redding, Calif. -- In an ongoing
effort to address area children’s medical needs, physicians, the community
health center and hospitals have once again rallied to provide surgical
attention to North State youngsters in need.
Some 80 to 100 Shasta County children on Feb. 8, 2003, are
scheduled for ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgery at Redding’s two major
hospitals due to a collaborative effort between physicians from Redding and
Southern California and health care entities of the local community. The entire
effort, known as Community ENT, is the third time these health and medical
providers have combined efforts to meet the needs of children served by Shasta
Community Health Center. Approximately 150 children were served through the
first initiatives in late 2000 and early 2001.
"Children in need of ENT care continue to remain a constant
in Shasta County," says Ann Murphy, M.D., medical director of the Shasta
Community Health Center. "These doctors and hospitals have generously said they
will not turn away from this need. We appreciate their commitment of time and
resources to make these surgeries possible."
A major source of the ongoing problem in caring for children
who are seen by the Shasta Community Health Center and need ENT services is the
low reimbursement rates from Medi-Cal, which typically provide financial
coverage for these children. "It is the inadequacy of these rates that continues
to compromise access to these services for low-income infants and children,"
Murphy said. The California Medical Association and the American Academy of
Otolaryngology have lent their organization’s backing to Community ENT to raise
awareness about this issue and the need to address it.
Several national and area organizations have also rallied
support to make Community ENT possible. Here is an alphabetical list of
supporters/sponsors:
Advanced Nasal Sinus Institute of Redding
Allergy Institute of Redding
American
Academy of Otolaryngology
California Medical
Association
ENTRUST Medical Group
GYRUS ENT
Holiday Inn
Market Street Marketing
Medtronic/Xomed
Mercy Foundation
North
Mercy Guild
Mercy
Medical Center
North Valley Ear, Nose &
Throat
Noisemakers, Inc.
Rawlings
Redding Anesthesia Associates
Medical Group
Redding ENT Head & Neck Surgery
Associates
Redding Medical Center
Redding Medical Center Auxiliary
Redding
Medical Center Foundation
Redding Medical Center
Kiwanis House
Redding Pathology Lab
Shasta Anesthesia Consultants
Shasta
Community Health Center
Shasta Emergency Medical
Group
Shasta ENT Specialists/Redding Sinus
Center
Surgical Partners of America
Taco Bell
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