|
 |
|
AMHP Newsletter | February 2010
Message from the Board
Assalaamualaikum AMHP Members.
We here at AMHP are very excited about the new year. As the
incoming President, I want to recognize the achievements of the past year which
has been very successful for the organization and we hope to continue this
momentum through this year. As we look forward, I want to acknowledge Dr.
Faisal Qazi for his tremendous commitment and visionary leadership that has
allowed AMHP to flourish in the past 12 months. Unfortunately, Dr. Qazi will be
stepping down as president but we hope we can capitalize on the achievements he was instrumental
in realizing.
Among his many accomplishments were:
- Organizing
educational workshops in six cities in March '09 to raise awareness of
Universal healthcare
- Meeting
with Congressional leaders in June in Washington, DC
to advocate for health
reform
- Leading
the August Initiative in which AMHP members met with Congressional leaders
in their home office's during the August recess
- Holding
a briefing on free clinics and their role in healthcare reform in October
2009.
In the upcoming year, we will continue these efforts which
Dr. Qazi helped initiate and to solidify our goals for the next 12 months and
long-term plans, the Board of Directors and Advisory Board members will be
holding a strategic planning retreat end of February to outline AMHP's goals
and objectives. I will keep you all posted with the outcome of the meeting and
would ask you to provide us with feedback on what you think is important. Walaikum Assalaam,Rabia Akram, MPH, MBAAMHP Presidentrakram@amhp.us | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
AMHP Events
AMHP at the United NationsArshia Wajid, AMHP Board Member, will be representing AMHP in New York on February 22, 2010 at the United Nations Economic and Social
Council (ECOSOC) meeting on Engaging Philanthropy to Promote Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment.Health Horizons- Irvine, CA
Former AMHP President, Faisal Qazi, has been invited to be
the featured speaker at the new Horizon Elementary School-Irvine's
Health Horizon: Happy Healthy Families event at the Westin South
Coast Plaza
on February 20, 2010.
To purchase tickets please visit: http://healthhorizon2010.eventbrite.com. Image from: www.un.org |
AMHP 2010 Initiatives
Policy TaskforceWith healthcare legislation still making its way through
Congress, AMHP will continue to work on advocating for comprehensive healthcare
reform. This year the Policy Taskforce will be led by Sameer Siddiqi. He has
had considerable experience in health policy as an intern for the Kaiser Family
Foundation. For those interested in this
taskforce, Sameer can be reached at ssidiqi@amhp.us. Health EducationA key focus for this year
will be health education and prevention.
The Health Education Taskforce will be led by Rhonda Ragab who has had
significant experience in and a passion for health education and she can be
reached at rragab@amhp.us.
Image from www.destination360.com |
Free Clinic Profile: Shifa Clinic, Houston
Shifa
Clinic started its operation in 1997, in a small store front office,with a
couple of dedicated physicians who saw the need for healthcare services of the
recent immigrants from the Indian subcontinent, Middle East and Africa.
Later
it moved to a 300 sq. ft trailer at the Masjid Attaqwa Complex. In May 2008 the
clinic moved into a 3600 sq. ft building, staying true to its original mission of
serving the healthcare needs of the uninsured and underserved members of the
community.
Tell us, briefly about your clinic:
Our
mission statement is: "Healing the community, one person at a time". We
provide healthcare services to the uninsured and people who are not eligible
for any Federal, County, State or City programs. Our Volunteer Physicians
(Internists) provide the bulk of the medical services but once a month we have
specialists (Optometrist, Gastroenterologist, Endocrinologist, Psychiatrist,
Pediatrican, Dermatologist and Dentist) to take care of the special needs of
our patients. In
addition we have partnerships with other local low cost clinics that also are
able to provide services we cannot offer. Our
clinic also offers Social Services which enable us to enroll eligible families
in CHIP and Medicaid Programs. We
have an agreement with Lab Corp for lab test services at a very low cost.
Upcoming Events:
- Host a "Cover the
Uninsured" event in March in
cooperation with Children's Defense Fund of
Texas.
- Quarterly Mammogram
Screening in cooperation
with The Rose and Breast Cancer Network of
Strength
- Bi-Monthly Eye Clinic
and Screening in cooperation
with University
of Houston's College of Optometry
- Immunization of
school children before the start of
school year in cooperation with Children's
Defense
Fund of Texas
Shifa Clinic Contact Information:
Address: 10415 Synott Road, Sugar Land, Texas, 77478
Clinic Hours:
Saturday: 11:00-3:00 PM & Third Wednesday of the month: 5:00-7:00 PM (Pediatric Services)
Clinic Phone:
281-561-5767
Clinic website: www.ShifaClinicHouston.org
Clinic Email address:
Info@ShifaClinicHouston.org
ED: Rafique
Jangda, ShifaClinicHouston@gmail.com
Our immediate goals: Extend clinic hours to 3 days a week
Our immediate needs: More Volunteer Physicians.
AMHP Newsletters will feature a Free Clinic profile each month. Please submit your clinic's information to mqureshi@amhp.us
|
AMHP Listserv
AMHP's listserv includes over 1000 healthcare professionals and
students from various disciplines across America. The listserv is open
to all without regard to gender, race and religion who seek to
collaboratively empower Muslim health professionals to improve the
quality and delivery of health services and increase access to care.
Interested in joining?
Email your name and email address to: contact@amhp.us.
| |
|
|
|
Member Profile:
Rabiah Akram  Rabia Akram is on the Board of Directors and the President
of American Muslim Health Professionals (AMHP) and helps lead the Health Policy
Taskforce, as well as sits on the Health Education Taskforce. Her interests lie in public health with a special interest in global
health and health policy.
Rabia earned a master's degree in public health and
business administration from the University
of Illinois, where she
concentrated in health policy. After completing her graduate program, Rabia
worked in community health at the Sinai Community Institute in Chicago to increase immunization coverage rates
among underserved children. Since then, she has worked at the American Medical
Association and in global health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public
Health. Rabia currently works as a health policy analyst at Walgreens.
She can be reached at rakram@amhp.us.
|
Celebrating MLK Day at Shifa Clinic
by Rafique Jangda
On
January 18th, 2010 Shifa Clinic celebrated Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King's
Birthday by organizing a FREE clinic at their community clinic center.
FREE consultations and FREE lab tests were offered. Prescriptions for easy to obtain $4 generic medications were also offered.
The event
was widely publicized and as a result there was a steady stream of patients from
the start.
Shifa's team
of volunteer staff and physicians served 54 patients. A great
majority of them had not visited a doctor in several years. There were orders for
98 lab tests for about 25 patients.
Shifa's social services office helped 8 families sign up for CHIP and various county
(Harris and Fort Bend) funded health service programs.
MD
Anderson Cancer Institute's volunteer, provided brochures and educational material
to all our visitors.
Shifa also
signed up 6 patients for upcoming FREE Mammogram Screening. The MLK event was
organized with Shifa's healthcare partners, Breast Cancer Network of Strength.
|
Call to Action
The White House is hosting a summit with Congressional leaders to restart the healthcare reform debate on February 25, 2010. AMHP encourages you to contact your elected leaders to show your support for real reform, before the summit. Many
Congressional leaders need to continue to hear from their constituents
about their concerns in regards to the American healthcare system.
Please meet, call, email, and send letters to your representatives and senators to have your voice heard. If you need talking points, draft letters, draft scripts, or helpful advocacy tools, they can be found on AMHP's website at http://www.amhp.us/advocacy.php.
|
Support AMHP!
Since its inception in 2004, the American Muslim Health Professionals (AMHP) has been actively engaged in public health initiatives to better the health of all Americans.
As a 501 c3 non-profit charitable organization, AMHP relies solely on the generosity of those who wish to improve the quality and delivery of health services and increase access to care.
Donate online using the link below or mail checks payable to AMHP to:
1284 S. Vermont Street
Palatine, IL 60067
Make a Donation
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
