• FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

  Contact: Joel Wascher
  A. Brown-Olmstead Associates
  joel@newaboa.com
  404-659-0919 (office)
  970-290-3759 (cell)

  Kellogg Foundation grant awarded to Atlanta Regional Health Forum 

  Atlanta, GA (March 26, 2008) --- The Atlanta Regional Health Forum (ARHF) has been awarded a $177,800 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to promote infant and maternal health. Much of the funding will be used to organize community discussions surrounding the “Unnatural Causes” series.

               The series will air on 4 successive Thursdays, beginning March 27 on Georgia public television. The opening 56-minute episode, “In Sickness and In Wealth,” presents the series’ overarching themes. Each supporting half-hour episode, set in a different ethnic/racial community, provides a deeper exploration of how social conditions affect population health and how some communities are extending their lives by improving them.

  The April 3 segment features Fleda Mask Jackson, Ph.D., senior scientist for ARHF and principal investigator for the seminal work on racial and gendered stress and adverse birth outcomes for African-Americans. The episode, filmed in Atlanta, is called "When the Bough Breaks" and looks in-depth at the health impacts of stresses unique to the African-American population. The episode utilizes Jackson’s research to look at rates of premature birth and low birth weight as they correlate to the stresses experienced by African-American females.
  
              “Making the connection between the stressors of race and gender, and physical responses contributing to prematurity and low birth weight is an important step for advancing interventions at multiple levels,” said Fleda Mask Jackson, Ph.D. “Future iterations of this work will hopefully inform policy and practice pertaining to the health of African-American communities.

              Following the premier, ARHF will be organizing multiple community forums where the public can view the episodes and engage in active discussions about these important health issues.

              “It is our hope that we can bring some level of awareness on how the stresses inherently involved in the African-American experience have a direct impact on community health,” said William Alexander, M.D., chair of the Atlanta Regional Health Forum board of directors. “We see a growing amount of evidence that racism and gendered experiences correlate directly to specific health indicators.”

  The complete schedule of showings for the series:

  March 27 - "In Sickness and in Wealth"
  April 3 - "When the Bough Breaks" and "Becoming American"
  April 10 - "Bad Sugar" and "Place Matters"
  April 17 - "Collateral Damage" and  "Not Just a Paycheck"
  
  You can see more details at http://unnaturalcauses.org/

             

  About Atlanta Regional Health Forum:

  ARHF is a nonpartisan coalition operating as a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit corporation dedicated to creating healthy local communities which ensure the highest health potential for each person within the ten core county region of metropolitan Atlanta. The mission of the Atlanta Regional Health Forum is to transform the health of the Atlanta region by encouraging, enabling, and empowering communities and individuals to achieve their fullest health potential. For more information on the Atlanta Regional Health Forum please visit our website at www.arhf.net.

   

  About the W.K. Kellogg Foundation:

  The W.K. Kellogg Foundation was established in 1930. The organization supports children, families and communities as they strengthen and create conditions that propel vulnerable children to achieve success as individuals and as contributors to the larger community and society. Grants are concentrated in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the southern African countries of Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe.

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• Medical Alert: Health-Care Forum Solicits Help From Business Leaders Julie Bryant (From the February 16, 2001 print edition of the Atlanta Business Chronicle)
  
     What started out as a health-care forum designed to improve public health in Georgia now has turned into a nonprofit corporation. The Atlanta Regional Health Forum, first held in 1999, is seeking to get business leaders involved in improving access to quality health care through its new corporate status.
     The forum has four working groups, each assigned to projects, which include eliminating barriers to health-care access for the poor, mobilizing grass-roots efforts aimed at promoting health education, promoting business collaborations to improve employee health and collecting and analyzing data to be used for starting community intervention programs.
     Two years ago, Grady Memorial Hospital President Edward Renford called for the first forum. More than 100 civic leaders who attended helped create a plan for improving public health and better defining Grady^s role in providing health care to the poor.
     The forum's advisory board recently appointed Dr. William "Buck" Baker and his wife, Mary Kay Kohles-Baker, as executive directors. Dr. Baker recently retired from his position as vice president of medical services at Piedmont Hospital.
     The Atlanta Regional Commission will serve as an incubator to the forum and help in identifying community leaders who could work with the new corporation. The forum also is looking to create a voluntary Community Advisory Committee of Atlanta-area leaders from a variety of backgrounds.
     For more information about the forum, call (404) 276-6566.
  
  
• Atlanta Leaders Aim to Reinvent Health Care Sonny Lufrano Contributing Writer (From the April 27, 2001 print edition of The Atlanta Business Chronicle)
  
     Health cares for every American. It seems like only yesterday that Bill Clinton was standing in front of Congress telling the American people that the most powerful country in the world should be able to provide its citizens with quality, affordable health care.
     Three years and a Hillary election later, upward of 45 million Americans remain uninsured. Toss in an ambulance-load of problems, such as Medicare solvency and rising prescription drug costs, and you have a crisis.
     But the previous administration^s attempts to put universal health coverage on the table might not have been completely in vain. What is emerging from the Clinton administration^s health-care debacle is an understanding by local governments and private-sector interests that a cure for health care will most likely not come from Washington.
  Changing health care in Atlanta
     In Atlanta, a groundbreaking organization made up of medical professionals and civic and business leaders is coming together to try to do something that^s never been done before. The Atlanta Regional Health Forum believes it can change the face of health care in Atlanta.
     The Atlanta Regional Health Forum was started in 1999 to get business leaders involved in improving access to quality health care. The organization is now a nonprofit corporation, headed by Dr. William "Buck" Baker Jr. and his wife, Mary Kay Kohles-Baker. While serving as medical director at Piedmont Hospital, Baker became increasingly aware of the number of health issues not being addressed by cash-strapped hospitals throughout the region. "What I saw firsthand was that Piedmont and other local hospitals were struggling just to stay alive," Baker said. "They don^t have the resources to deliver health care to people that are struggling."
  The vision
     The group's vision is to see healthy local communities and to assure the highest health potential for each person. The organization^s official mission is to "connect activities for healthy communities, initially in the five core county region of Atlanta."
     The Regional Health Forum has four working groups. The first group will work on issues of service and access, focusing on the quality of service people receive and the barriers that stop some from receiving service at all. The second group, titled "grassroots mobilization," will work to promote health and wellness issues through education in the communities. The third group will focus on public and private policy, with a special focus on working with businesses to improve overall health. The fourth group will collect data and research to help measure outcomes to determine whether the health forum is achieving its goals. The first item on the agenda calls for each group to create a strategic plan detailing one specific health-care change it hopes to achieve.
     The Atlanta Regional Commission is providing office and meeting space, computers and telephones. "I^m extremely optimistic about what the Forum can accomplish," said Emerson Bryan, director of support services for the Atlanta Regional Commission. "Dr. Baker brings an incredible amount of energy and devotion to the table. And this is really the first time we have leaders not only in the field of health, but in a large number of disciplines coming together to see what they can do to solve this problem."
     "What we^re trying to do is change the way people think about health care," Baker said. "If a person is sick, that affects businesses, that affects the economy, it affects everyone."
     Part of Baker^s vision is bringing together people from all walks of life to make health care a universal concern. To that end, Teodoro Maus, a former consul general in Atlanta^s Mexican Consulate, is one of the people serving on the Health Forum^s board of directors. Maus left the Mexican Consulate in March to pursue other interests. He is excited about the opportunity to work with the Regional Health Forum on improving the quality of health care delivered to the Latino community. "I am most concerned with the quality of care people have access to," Maus said. "One of areas I am interested in is the quality of prenatal care mothers receive." Numerous census tracts in Atlanta have infant mortality rates above 10.8 per 1,000 infants. One tract in DeKalb has an infant mortality rate of 36.4 per 1,000, a figure that rivals some Third World countries. Maus recently met with physicians at Atlanta Medical Center, who were eager to help the Health Forum spread the word that women, regardless of their immigration status, could receive affordable prenatal care. Maus^ job, and the job of his eight-member group, is to spread that message throughout the community.
  Changing attitudes
     The success of the Health Forum will be determined by a myriad of factors, not the least of which may be the ability of the Health Forum to get people to think differently about their health. "Every time you say the word ‘health,^ the first thing that comes to mind is medicine and doctors," said Dr. Paul Wiesner, director of the DeKalb County Board of Health and a founding member of the Health Forum. "We have to get away from the concept of health as something you buy from your doctor."
  
  
• Forum: Health is More Than Absence of Disease Judith Potwara Contributing Writer (From the May 18, 2001 print edition, special section, “Health-Care Heroes”, of The Atlanta Business Chronicle)
  
     The Atlanta Regional Health Forum is a new organization, but it’s based on an old idea: Communities need to unite to solve their own problems. And the problem the health forum is tackling is health care. “Most folks, when they think health care, think of just the uninsured and the homeless on the street,” said Dr. William “Buck” Baker Jr., who serves as executive director of the Atlanta regional Health Forum. His wife, Mary Kay Kohles-Baker, a registered nurse and a social worker, serves as co-director. The new nonprofit organization is working to get out the message that health-care issues include just about everyone, even those with good insurance, Baker said.
     The Atlanta Regional Health Forum was named a finalist in the Community Outreach category of Atlanta Business Chronicle’s annual Health-Care Heroes Awards.
     Edward Renford, president of Grady Memorial Hospital, once tried to locate a group of regional health advocates in Georgia. “To my amazement, I really didn’t find any,” said Renford, who called for the original Atlanta Regional Health Forum in September 1999. Approximately 120 civic leaders attended the one-day event, held at the Carter Center.The forum is creating a network between all the organizations that affect public health. A strong economy cannot be maintained, Renford said, if a large portion of metro Atlanta’s children miss school due to health problems, if depressed people go untreated or if insurance problems are too expensive for small businesses.
     Baker, a 1961 graduate of Emory University’s School of Medicine, advocates seeing the big picture. Baker recently retired from his position as vice president of medical services at Piedmont Hospital, so he knows how hospitals struggle to cover their own costs. And in his years of private practice in St. Petersburg, Fla., he volunteered at a public clinic that expanded to include a food bank, clothing distribution and shelters for domestic violence victims.After seeing how health issues in one Florida county were intertwined with many issues, he realized the enormity of his task in the five-county region that includes Fulton, Cobb, Gwinnett, DeKalb and Clayton. “Trying to do this here for five counties is a little bigger bite,” he said.
     It’s no accident that the group’s temporary quarters are in borrowed space at the ARC, a group dedicated to studying and coordinating metro Atlanta’s transportation issues. Baker and others see the logic of extending the regional approach to health care. “The Atlanta Regional Commission has had 30-plus years to coordinate transportation, air and water quality issues,” Baker said. “We don’t have a similar group looking at health care for the region.” “There are so many organizations, agencies and associations,” he added, and each has its own budget, board and executive director. The health forum’s role is to coordinate these groups with each other, share information, find out where the gaps are and fill them.
     So far, the forum, has four working groups which are working on funding and organizational projects:
  
  • Business & Health/Public and Private Policy group: Examines what’s being done to help employers address the high cost of disability, workers compensation and insurance coverage.
    
  • Service/Access group: Hopes to secure $1 million in federal funds for a community access program.
    
  • Prevention/Grassroots Mobilization group: Organizing an event to unite existing community groups and allow them to share their “best practices” and set up a permanent network.
    
  • Data/Population-Based Research group: Writing two grant applications in cooperation with the Georgia Hospital Association in an effort to link hospitals together in their error-reporting mechanisms.
     The forum’s mission, which is to “connect and coordinate activities for healthy communities,” uses the definition of health as expressed by the World Health Organization: “Health is a state of complete physical, mental, social (and spiritual) well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” This broader definition of health is what the group is all about, Baker said.
  
  
• Medical Alert: HEALTH GRANT Julie Bryant (From the March 1, 2002 print edition of the Atlanta Business Chronicle)
  
     Grady Health System, along with a group of Atlanta health-care providers, are trying for a $1 million grant to improve health-care access for the metro area^s growing Latino population.
     Grady will serve as the lead agency for a coalition of health-care providers that will share the grant funds. The coalition includes St. Joseph^s Hospital of Atlanta, St. Joseph^s Mercy Care Services, the Atlanta Regional Health Forum, Gwinnett Medical Center, North DeKalb Health Center and Norcross Health Center.
     The grant would come from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
  
  
• Legislators Considering Universal Health Care Julie Bryant (From the March 6, 2002 print edition of the Atlanta Business Chronicle)
  
     Georgia legislators are considering a radical health-care reform measure that would create a universal health-care organization to cover medical care payments for all state residents -- including millions of uninsured residents.
     House Bill 638, sponsored by Rep. Bob Holmes (D-Atlanta), would set up the Georgia Health Care Corporation to establish a state health-care budget to pay Georgians^ medical insurance claims.
     "We are talking about creating a single payer, because the payment process for medical care is where the problem lies with our health-care system," said Dr. William G. "Buck" Baker Jr., executive director of the Atlanta Regional Health Forum, which supports the legislation.
     The Georgia Health Care Corporation would be a public corporation, funded by federal, state and private money, that would administer the Georgia Health Plan. All state residents would be eligible for the plan.
     "This would create a universal program that would consolidate all medical payment sources and would offer a way to cover everyone -- even the uninsured and uninsurable," said lobbyist and public health advocate Linda Lowe.
  The legislation mimics a similar bill introduced in 1993 by Rep. Rita Valenti. At the time a national push for health-care reform, sponsored by the Clinton administration, was giving the legislation forward momentum.
  But, ultimately, the proposal failed to pass.
     Now legislators are gearing up for another push, this time buoyed by skyrocketing health care costs, a growing number of uninsured and a weak economy.
     Seven states, including California, Maine and Massachusetts, already are moving forward with health-care coverage reform efforts.
     A recent report published by The Lewin Group studied the costs and impacts of two universal health reform plans proposed in Maryland.
  The report showed that a single payer model not only would adequately cover all Maryland residents, including an estimated 760,000 uninsured in the state, but would actually reduce total health-care spending in Maryland by $345.8 million.
  "Having multiple payers and multiple (health-care insurance) plans is what is causing the excess cost we are experiencing," said Lowe. "The problem is our ridiculous degree of administrative costs."
     Nationally administrative costs top $800 a year just to handle one person^s medical claims, Lowe added.
  The Georgia Health Care Corp. would be headed by an appointed board of governors and the program would be monitored to ensure that services were adequate and accessible to all members of the plan.
     Health care regions also would be set up throughout the state to address differing needs between communities, such as rural and urban communities.
     "We are very happy that this is on the table," said Georgia Consumer^s Insurance Advocate Cathey Steinberg.
     The legislation is being reviewed by a House committee. Supporters say it only has been introduced in the Georgia General Assembly this year as part of an education process and is not expected to pass.
  
  
• Belt Line Will Make Atlanta Healthier
  Opinion Editorial, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, January 17, 2005
  William G. Baker, Jr., MD  

A recent editorial calling for visionary leadership to make the Atlanta Belt Line a reality was right on target (‘Wanted: Someone at head of Belt Line,’ @issue, January 11).  But it overlooked the many health benefits of this marvelous resource.  These include:

o       Physical activity.  Belt Line trails will offer an attractive setting for walking, bicycling and other recreational activity.  The Belt Line will enable commuting by foot and bicycle, and by transit—which includes walking to and from transit stops.  Physical activity leads to weight loss and promotes health.  Obesity and physical inactivity shorten life and raise the risk of heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, depression and some cancers.

o       Cleaner air.  The Belt Line could reduce the use of automobiles, whose emissions are major contributors to ozone in Atlanta.  Ozone is linked to increased asthma attacks and heart disease mortality.  Atlanta exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency’s air quality standard for ozone 51 times in 2002-2003.

o       A safer city.  Driving less reduces each individual’s risk of injury on the highways.  Nationally, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among persons 1-34 years old.  Good trails and pedestrian infrastructure reduce the risk of pedestrian and bicyclist injuries and deaths.

o       Mental health.  In many people, driving causes stress, aggravation and even belligerence (think of road rage).  Alternatives to driving are good for mental health.  Physical activity, such as walking, is an effective treatment for depression.

o       Stronger community.  The Belt line will help build community by providing a public setting for people to meet and greet each other.  This ‘social capital’ is good for the overall health of a community.

o       Brown-field redevelopment.  Redevelopment of underutilized urban land can reduce sprawl and preserve green space.  Redevelopment promotes health by offering economically and socially thriving communities that are walkable.

Leading researchers and institutions in Atlanta, including the Atlanta Regional Health Forum, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Atlanta Regional Commission, have recognized that our built environment can affect our health.  Broader appreciation of the positive health impacts of the Belt Line could help galvanize public and private support and assist in attracting the leadership needed to make it happen. 

•  Study: Kids take walks if parks, stores nearby  Stacy Shelton (From the print Edition of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 12/12/06
  
   Young people in metro Atlanta are more likely to walk if they live in a city or within a half-mile of a park or store, according to a new study to be published next month in the American Journal of Health Promotion.

  Of the 3,161 children and youth surveyed from 13 counties, the most important neighborhood feature for all age ranges was proximity to a park or playground. It was the only nearby walking attraction that mattered for children ages 5 to 8, who were 2.4 times more likely to walk at least half a mile a day than peers who don't live near a park, researchers said.

  For older children and young adults up to age 20, a mix of nearby destinations including schools, stores and friends' houses also translated into more walking. Preteens and teenagers ages 12 to 15 who live in high-density or urban neighborhoods were nearly five times more likely to walk half a mile or more a day than those who live in low-density or suburban neighborhoods.

  Lawrence Frank, the study's lead author and a former urban planning professor at Georgia Tech, said the research shows young people are particularly sensitive to their surroundings, most likely because they can't drive.

  "Being able to walk in one's neighborhood is important in a developmental sense," said Frank, now at the University of British Columbia. "It gives youth more independence. They start to learn about environments and where they live. There are also benefits for social networking for children."

  The study used data collected from a larger study of land use and travel patterns, called SMARTRAQ, in the metro Atlanta area. It is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Georgia Department of Transportation and the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority.

  Other SMARTRAQ findings showed a strong link between time spent driving and obesity.

  Elke Davidson, executive director of the Atlanta Regional Health Forum, said getting kids to walk is "one of the most important health interventions that we need right now." Her group is a privately funded organization that works to make public health goals a part of local and regional planning.

  Health officials say half of all children diagnosed with diabetes today have Type 2, formerly known as adult-onset, which is linked to obesity. Exercise is a key strategy for preventing and treating the disease.

  "We need not just to tell kids to get off their computers and go outside. If there are no parks and no place to walk, they're stuck," Davidson said. "A lot of the natural opportunities for physical activity, like walking to school or walking to your friends' house or walking downtown to get a soda ... those opportunities are increasingly limited when we build communities that are so auto-dependent."

  George Dusenbury, executive director of Park Pride, said he chose to live in Atlanta's Candler Park neighborhood because it's close to parks, restaurants, stores and MARTA. Both his sons, ages 5 and 8, are used to walking, he said.

  "We recognize that encouraging your kids to walk early is the best way to ensure they stay healthy," he said. "I hate driving with a passion. So for me it's an environmental thing and it's a health thing."