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Michigan News Archives
See also the DHWDC section and
News around the State
February News
MICHIGAN:
"House Passes Bills to Allow Information About HPV"
http://www.ap.org/ , (02.12.2008)
On Tuesday, the Michigan House of Representatives passed bills that would direct
schools that provide information about vaccines to include information about
human papillomavirus, cervical cancer and the HPV vaccine to the families of
students in certain grades. The Senate has passed similar measures, and they
could be headed to Gov. Jennifer Granholm for her to sign into law. CDC
Summary
Improved Care for Mid & Central MI
by Barbara Wood
From Michigan HIV & STD News, Winter 2008 Issue
It began with a conversation between Peter Gulick, DO, FACP, Associate
Professor of Medicine, Michigan State University and Patrick Yankee,
MDCH-DHWDC-HAPIS care unit manager about three years ago. Dr. Gulick knew that
MSU was going to be divesting its support for clinics at the University,
including his, and he was concerned about continuing care for his PWA patients.
When Yankee found this out, he did some research and discovered that Dr. Gulick
was the only provider within a wide area who was serving PWAs without private
insurance. See article
Michigan Positive Action Coalition (MI-POZ)
In support of Michigan's 4th Annual Black AIDS Awareness Campaign
African Americans disproportionately impacted by HIV/AIDS.
In the domestic epidemic, African-Americans carry the burden of HIV/AIDS,
representing nearly half of all cases in 2005 in the 33 states with long-term,
confidential name-based HIV infection reporting, while representing only 13
percent of the U.S. population. Gay men and other men who have sex with men of
all races and ethnicities also carry a disproportionate burden. Nearly 50
percent of all HIV/AIDS cases and 67 percent of male HIV/AIDS cases in 2005 were
attributed to male-to-male sexual behavior. Despite the successes we have seen,
our efforts must be scaled up if we are ever to meet the actual prevention needs
of these and other high-risk populations.—NASTAD, 2008.
“As a black gay man in Michigan I can’t tell you that there’s a lot of support
or understanding about my health issues out there. Its like we’re invisible…we
don’t exist to our own people and that’s how HIV finds its way to us. I’ve been
HIV positive for 11 years now. Seeing me should remind people…they should see me
and realize that I’m their brother, cousin or neighbor. I’m with them in church.
AIDS is here and its killing men like me, just as it always has…when will we
hear?” - A.T., HIV positive man living in Michigan.
“The time is always right to do what is right”-Martin Luther King, Jr.
Be a part of the solution; Contact MI-POZ at 248-545-1435 ext 106
www.mipwa.org
Michigan's 4th Annual Black AIDS Awareness Campaign
(BAAC)
The Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) Division of Health,
Wellness and Disease Control (DHWDC) in conjunction with the African American
AIDS Advisory Committee (A4C) of the Michigan AIDS Council (MHAC) is supporting
events around the state during February and March. The Campaign begins on
February 1 - the beginning of Black History Month - and concludes on March 16.
If you are planning events during this time please contact Teresa Springer at
(810) 232-0888, or e-mail
tspringer@wellnessaids.org . See the listing of
Michigan events.
9th Annual Michigan Substance Abuse Conference
Michigan CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS
This Annual Conference, to be held September 8 & 9, 2008 at the Lansing
Center in Lansing, provides an educational and networking opportunity for people
with a common interest in substance abuse services and related issues.
The agenda includes activities designed for substance abuse and community mental
health agencies and service providers, board members, program administrators and
medical directors, clinicians and clinical supervisors, preventionists, law
enforcement and criminal justice personnel, the recovery community, policy
makers, and concerned citizen organizations. The conference provides expert
speakers, workshops, and peer-to-peer learning on a wide range of contemporary
issues. Print out the Call for
Presentations; and fill in on-line, save and return by e-mail the
Presentation Submission
Form.
See January Archives
Reports and Summaries
Improved Care for Mid & Central MI
by Barbara Wood
From Michigan HIV & STD News, Winter 2008 Issue
It began with a conversation between Peter Gulick, DO, FACP, Associate
Professor of Medicine, Michigan State University and Patrick Yankee,
MDCH-DHWDC-HAPIS care unit manager about three years ago. Dr. Gulick knew that
MSU was going to be divesting its support for clinics at the University,
including his, and he was concerned about continuing care for his PWA patients.
When Yankee found this out, he did some research and discovered that Dr. Gulick
was the only provider within a wide area who was serving PWAs without private
insurance.
There was a new round of Ryan White funding coming up, so together they got the
players in place for a new collaboration with Ingham County Health Department,
and an improved arrangement with the Lansing Area AIDS Network (LAAN). The
result was a new and improved clinic for Dr. Gulick and his staff.
The new clinic at Ingham Co. Health Department is housed within its primary care
center “with much more support than we ever had,” said Dr. Gulick. In addition
to himself, his nurse practitioner and research nurse, his new clinic has more
nurses, medical assistants and much more structure to the program, which
together will mean better care for his patients, he said.
Ingham County Health Department’s primary care center also has a dental clinic
and other specialties that will help support the other needs of PWAs when they
come in for HIV care. “They have the infrastructure and the whole primary care
system around them, which gives them medical assistants to do lab draws and
other patient care tasks… that helps him serve his patients better,” said
Yankee.
The increased space at the care center also allows for on-site case management
provided by LAAN. “We have always collaborated with LAAN but it was never
formally structured.” The new clinic has 16 hours per week of medical case
management, “[which] gives us something we never had before for patients,” said
Dr. Gulick. The case manager provided by LAAN can help patients with needs that
used be handled by Dr. Gulick and his staff - taking time away from patient
care.
Following a needs assessment it was discovered that another area that needed
care was central Michigan around Mt. Pleasant. So there is another new program
this year – with the Central Michigan District Health Department – that MDCH
funded. “We have a new case manager for Central Michigan. Many of the clients in
that area drove to Lansing to see Dr. Gulick,” said Yankee.
The Central Michigan District Health Department decided on a satellite site in
Clare for its HIV clinic, which could draw individuals from rural central and
northern Michigan. Dr. Gulick is contracting to provide services once a month in
this new clinic that will open just north of Mt. Pleasant, hopefully this
spring.
Dr. Gulick is very special to HIV care in mid and central Michigan in many ways.
First, he is committed to providing HIV care. There are other physicians who
provide private care, “but often they do not accept Medicaid and do not see
patients without insurance,” said Yankee.
“And then you have people like Dr. Gulick, who are so invested in the community…
and [HIV care] is a big part of their practice. Many infectious disease doctors
don’t always do that. They may have 10-20 patients, but that’s not the bulk of
their practice. He’s a real trooper.”
Dr. Gulick is very unique because he is also a hepatologist. As hepatitis C
co-infection becomes a growing awareness and concern, at these clinics patients
can also receive testing and treatment for hepatitis C (as well as vaccinations
for A and B), along with the supportive counseling for successful HCV treatment,
screening and monitoring.
In the new Lansing clinic it will be truly one-stop shopping for clients who
test positive for HIV, and the new Clare clinic will provide needed services for
those who have a distance to travel for HIV – and hepatitis care.
Thanks goes to key people at Ingham County Health Department: Deputy Health
Officer, Clinical Health Services Jaeson Fornier, DC, MPH and Health Officer and
Medical Director, Dean Sienko, MD; as well as Chris Lauckner and Mary Kushion at
Central Michigan District Health Department. “I’m proud that we have been able
to work with them so closely and we are really filling some gaps there,” said
Yankee.
Around the State
Interactive Exhibit on AIDS Orphans from Around the
Coming to Detroit to "Open Eyes and Touch Hearts"
Jan. 14, 2008
A hands-on, interactive exhibit featuring AIDS orphans from around the world
will be displayed at Marygrove College this winter.
The exhibit, "The Children Left Behind," which will open on Feb. 13 in The
Gallery and will run through March 14, captures life through the eyes of orphans
living in many cultures.
From cultures as diverse as Uganda, India, Cambodia, Guatemala, South Africa and
the United States, visitors see the children's lives through their own creative
voices. The 1,200 square-foot display invites visitors to "travel" to each
country, immersing themselves in the stories of these children, and to witness
how different life can be when people, communities and organizations work
together.
Kiosks and colorful life-size stations of each country, presented through
photographs, video games, artifacts, a short documentary and original drawings
by the children, evoke the hope and inspiration created by the work of Catholic
Relief Services (CRS), an international relief and development organization that
oversees 80 HIV/AIDS projects in 30 countries. CRS commissioned the traveling
exhibit.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a supporter of "The Children Left Behind," says the
exhibit "will open your eyes and touch your hearts because these are stories of
children who are beating incredible odds."
The exhibit, which opens during the middle of Black History Month, may help
bring AIDS awareness to Michigan, where a recent report by the Michigan AIDS
Fund showed the state is performing poorly at curbing the infection rate in
young African Americans. Of the approximate 17,000 Michigan residents living
with AIDS, 67 percent of new infections are coming from southeast Michigan.
A public reception for the exhibit will be held in the gallery from 6-8:30 on
Friday, Feb. 29. The exhibit is sponsored by Marygrove College and the IHM
Sisters. Several IHM Sisters are active in AIDS ministries in Africa and the
United States. See the Calendar.
Black AIDS Awareness Campaign Kick-Off on Feb. 7
This town hall meeting will serve as the kickoff to the Black AIDS Awareness
Campaign. The event will be held at the Northwest Activities Center in Detroit
from 4-7pm. See flyer for
details.
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