Monday, August 10, 2009
Waterloo, Cedar Rapids and Iowa City
The start of National Community Health Center Week today gave me a perfect opportunity to come back to Iowa and visit our community health centers, and to talk with people about the health reform effort underway in Washington. I kicked off the week at the Peoples Community Health Center in Waterloo and was amazed at the size of this facility and the great services it offers for the insured, underinsured and, as patient Jennifer Schmidt described, those who were once uninsured, but received such great care, that they kept coming back even after they obtained insurance!
Jennifer’s story proves why CHCs are so essential in our communities and why as chair of the Appropriations subcommittee on health I have no higher priority than to secure appropriate funding for these centers. The status quo health system is broken for millions of Americans, including many of Peoples’ patients and clients.
Funding I worked to secure in the Economic Recovery Package earlier this year – more than $1 million for the center – will be used to keep the facility in top shape as demand for their services grow.
After leaving Waterloo, I traveled to Cedar Rapids for a ribbon cutting of the new Linn Community Care facility. About 200 Iowans came out and what a great event this was – complete with food and music outside of the facility.
What makes the Linn Community Care Center so unique is that it brings in residents from both St. Luke’s and Mercy Medical Center to care for patients. The facility was sadly forced to move into a much smaller location after last year’s flooding, which means that services were reduced from a 14,000 square foot facility into a 3,500 square foot facility with only eight examination rooms. And this while patient load increased by 40 percent!
The new location we opened today will offer 22 examination rooms and even has its own lab, translator services and prescription drug service. Additional funding I worked to secure in the Economic Recovery Package earlier this year – $536,000 for the center – will be used to keep the facility in top shape as demand for their services grow.
What surprised me the most about my day – and something I shared with my friend Ed Schultz when I called into his radio program this afternoon – was the misinformation that is running rampant about health reform. I urge folks to cut through the clutter and verify information on how this reform effort will provide choices for all Americans.
After Cedar Rapids, it was on to Iowa City and the American Legion Post #17 to deliver some much-deserved medals to families of deceased servicemen. I was shocked to learn some years ago of the struggles that families face when trying to obtain medals posthumously. My office intervenes when we can to ensure those who served their country get the honor they deserve.
Today I honored Clarence Davis with a Purple Heart for his service during WWI, Richard Donegan a number of medals including a Purple Heart and the Prisoner of War medal for service during WWII, Kenneth Hein medals including the Purple Heart and the National Defense Service Medal for service during the Korean War and Harlan Henely a number of medals including the Purple Heart and Navy Commendation Medal for service during the Vietnam War. None of these men could be with us today, but the proud looks on their families’ faces were evident as I presented each of these honors.
As I traveled on I-80, I capped off my day with one of my favorite activities – a trip to the Dairy Queen for a blizzard. All-in-all, it was a great day to be in Iowa.
