HJNO Nov/Dec 2020

28 NOV / DEC 2020  I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS   Healthcare Briefs DCHC Provides Free Masks, Medical Services During National Community Health Center Week DePaul Community Health Centers (DCHC), formerly known as Daughters of Charity Health Centers, celebrated National Community Health Center Week in August by hosting several events throughout metro New Orleans. National Health Center Week, sponsored by the National Associ- ation of Community Health Centers, is an annual celebration which raises awareness about the mis- sion and accomplishments of America’s health centers. Nationwide, community health centers lower healthcare costs by more than $24 billion annu- ally, reduce rates of chronic diseases, and stimu- late local economies. Michael G. Griffin, president and CEO of DCHC, which operates 10 health cen- ters throughout New Orleans, believes that the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically demonstrates the importance of health centers. As part of the celebration, the DCHC mobile medical unit was on hand at the Forest Park Apartments in Algiers on Aug. 11 to provide free medical services to residents. DCHC also pro- vided free masks to the community on Aug. 13 at 2909 Desire Parkway, and to seven senior hous- ing centers. LPCA Awarded $1 Million to Combat Opioid Abuse in Rural LA The Health Resources and Services Adminis- tration (HRSA) announced that the Louisiana Pri- mary Care Association (LPCA) has been awarded $1 million to enhance and expand service delivery for substance use disorder and opioid use disor- der in rural communities. LPCA has been selected as one of 89 grant recipients in the country to receive funding as part of HRSA’s Rural Commu- nities Opioid Response (RCORP) implementation grant process. LPCA will use this funding in a three year imple- mentation of a set of evidence-based interven- tions and promising practices that align with the U.S. Department of Health & Human Service’s Five-Point Strategy to Combat the Opioid Crisis. “This funding could not have come at a more critical time,” said Gerrelda Davis, exec- utive director of LPCA. “While our national attention has turned to the coronavirus, the opi- oid epidemic continues its deadly assault on our communities.” While this funding is geared specifically toward expanded service and treatment in rural commu- nities, LPCA will share lessons learned and best practices with Federally Qualified Health Centers and partners in other, urban regions of the state. “Our Community Health Center members are proven leaders and experts in reaching our state’s most vulnerable and difficult to reach pop- ulations,” said Raegan Carter, LPCA director of health policy and governmental affairs. “Now, with this grant award, they will have the resources they need to build capacity and reach even more patients in need of help.” Roderic Teamer Named Board Chair of Marillac Community Health Centers dba DePaul Community Health Centers Roderic Teamer, director of diversity pro- grams and business development for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana (BCBSLA), was recently elected board chairman of Marillac Commu- nity Health Centers dba DePaul Community Health Centers. Other board members include vice chairperson Stephanie Rhodes Navarre of Rhodes Funeral Home; secretary/treasurer Rob- ert Angelico, president and managing partner with the law firm of Liskow & Lewis; Sarah Moody Thomas, PhD; Michael deYoung of Crescent Cap- ital Consulting; Ronald Carrere, vice president of development with Liberty Bank & Trust; Sister Ellen Kron and Sister Marie Therese Sedgwick of the Daughters of Charity Order; Sister Marjorie Hebert of Catholic Charities; and Anna Ander- son Garner. CDC Awards Grant to Tulane Researchers Studying COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 can affect people in a number of different ways, from an absence of symptoms to major complications, even death. The Centers for Disease Control recently awarded $700,000 to a Tulane University team of researchers who are studying how the virus works and where and when it is shed. What they find could help explain why COVID-19 is causing higher death rates among Black and Hispanic residents of New Orleans. Tulane Assistant Professor of Medicine Dahlene Fusco, MD, said researchers want to learn whether specific factors related to the virus or something within the host contribute to higher fatality rates. Fusco and her team are tracking patients from hospitals and clinics around the Greater New Orleans area. They are collecting clinical, virus and serologic (antibody and cytokine) data from people diagnosed with COVID-19, which will allow a real-time comparison of the course of the illness and how the patient’s immune system responds. The researchers plan to follow patients for a year after their treatment for the virus. Fusco said the data gathered in this study will help researchers identify whether variants in the patients or the virus have contributed to the high mortality rate seen in Louisiana, and will be use- ful for broader predictions of COVID-19 response moving forward. “We need to study the host-virus interaction sys- tematically to identify effective countermeasures Roderic Teamer Dahlene Fusco, MD