A Generous Spirit - Waterbury Hospital

Waterbury
Hospital’s
17th Annual
Charity Golf
Classic
The Country Club of
Waterbury
Monday,
June 14, 2010
WATERBURY HEALTH
ACCESS PROGRAM (WHAP)
IS MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Leslie Swiderski is Waterbury Hospital’s
Program Coordinator for the Waterbury
Health Access Program (WHAP). When
Leslie’s mother, Ann Kopp Scranton, died on
November 1 this year, her family asked that
gifts in her memory be directed to the
support of this program, to bring hope and
healing to many lives. This request stemmed
from Ann’s strong belief in equal access to
healthcare. These gifts are currently helping
to supplement the diminished
level of federal funds available
for the uninsured. “The program’s
mission is to provide
access to medical care
regardless of one’s ability to
pay,” said Swiderski.
An estimated 30,000 adults and
children in the Greater
Waterbury Area live without
health insurance. The Waterbury Health
Access Program provides bilingual, coordinated
case management services that link
these patients to existing medical entitlement
programs, a medical home, and the coordination
of individual care. Qualified patients are
enrolled into the WHAP donated-care component
(Waterbury Project Access) in which 340
area physicians, three community clinics, and
the two area hospitals (Waterbury Hospital
and Saint Mary’s Hospital) provide donated
care. “The perception is that these are destitute
people,” said Swiderski. “However, it is
estimated that 80% of the uninsured in the
U.S. are from working families. Others just
need assistance during a period of unemployment.
WHAP is able to leverage $1.56 of
donated services for every $1.00 contributed,
so each gift is worth a gift and a half!”
Significant state grant funding for WHAP will
end in June, 2010. While the program also
receives support from the Connecticut
Community Foundation, the Naugatuck
Savings Bank Foundation, HUD, and the
United Way of Greater Waterbury, it will now
rely on contributed income more than ever.
“With the economy in its current state and
the area unemployment rate of about 11%, I
can’t imagine how the growing number of
uninsured will access healthcare
without the services provided by
WHAP,” said Swiderski. Through
November, WHAP evaluated
7,759 referrals in 2009, and has
averaged over 3,000 active
patients serviced each year.
WHAP has begun to implement a
shared electronic medical
record in all outpatient clinics in
Waterbury, eliminating duplicated services
that stretch everyone’s budgets. Patients are
also enrolled in a Pharmacy Assistance prescription
drug program to obtain generic
medications. Since its inception in 2005, care
and medication for uninsured and underinsured
residents of the Greater Waterbury
Area provided by WHAP and its volunteer
medical professionals is valued at $3,437,147.
For more information on the Waterbury
Health Access Program please call
Leslie Swiderski at 203-573-7681 or
email droy@wtbyhosp.org.
THE 2010
WATERBURY HOSPITAL GALA
CELEBRATING 120 YEARS OF SERVICE TO GREATER WATERBURY
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2010
AT THE VILLA ROSA WEDDING AND
BANQUET FACILITY
4
WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU THERE!