Making community connectivity a reality

PhysBizTech, January 17, 2012
Federal funding for health information technology (HIT) has largely been directed at small practices in rural-urban areas. In addition to funding and training IT staff, most managers of these practices would probably agree that coordination of regional HIT resources and a go-to knowledge base for implementing HIT would help them better serve their patients and providers.

To help meet these needs in North Central Florida, CommunityHealth IT was formed three years ago. This organization is a learning network and coordinating body for […]

Gainesville Sun, January 16, 2012
WellFlorida is putting out the call to predominantly black churches in the area to help boost the rates of breast cancer screening among black women.

The state-designated local health council for North Central Florida was awarded a grant from the American Cancer Society Florida Division’s Community Education Grant Program to Address Cancer Disparities for this fiscal year, taking aim at the disease that is the second-leading cause of death among American women.

Compared with 57.1 percent of white women older than 40 […]

WellFlorida News Release
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (Jan. 11, 2012)—Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in American women, and African American women are disproportionately affected by it. Recent data shows that in Alachua County only 30.8% of African American women over the age of 40 received a mammogram to screen for breast cancer compared to 57.1% of White women. The age‐adjusted death rate for African American women is also more than 40% higher than their White counterparts. Believe! Breast Cancer Prevention through Churches […]

Gainesville Sun, January 8, 2012
You might think this is an emergency: Feverish, a sore that is oozing and skin that is extremely itchy.

With those symptoms, the exam room that Tiffany Williams entered last week was not in a hospital emergency department, but at the University of Florida Shands Eastside Community Practice.

“I feel like I’m home here,” said Williams, 35, of Gainesville, who works as a cashier at Food Lion. “And my doctors are wonderful.”

And it costs a fraction of what it would have had […]

Home Magazine, October 2011
By serving 16 counties in North Central Florida, WellFlorida Council helps more than 1.6 million people across 11,000 square miles, with almost 248,000 of those being Alachua County residents, lead healthier lives. And you’ve probably never heard of them.

“People won’t know who we are,” said Steven Oliva, MHA, CEO of WellFlorida, “We rarely ask for donations or fundraise. Our goal is not to make $1 million but to build healthier communities.”

WellFlorida began in 1969 under its original name, North Central Florida […]

InformationWeek, September 8, 2011 by Nicole Lewis
Forty grant recipients will get about $300,000 each to purchase technology, install broadband networks, and train staff members.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has allocated $12 million to rural health networks across the nation to support health IT adoption and help them meet Meaningful Use requirements and qualify for federal incentive payments.

The funds will be distributed among 40 grantee organizations that will receive about $300,000 each to purchase technology, install broadband networks, and train staff members. […]

Gainesville Sun, August 4, 2011
Lyndcey Brown, 3, climbed up into the dental exam chair recently at the Fearnside Family Services Center in northeast Gainesville and helped Dr. Micaela Gibbs brush the teeth of a stuffed alligator.

“Can you open your mouth like a big alligator?” Gibbs asked. “You have such pretty teeth. … Do you brush your teeth?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Lyndcey answered.

Lyndcey was getting her teeth checked and a fluoride gel put on them to help prevent cavities as part of a partnership between the University […]

WellFlorida News Release
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (June 14, 2011)—The North Central Florida Cancer Control Collaborative (NCFCCC) is providing new tools and resources for healthcare providers, and cancer patients, survivors, families and their caregivers through the organization’s website at www.ncfcancercontrol.org.

Are you or someone you care about looking for a breast cancer support group, searching for a boutique offering specially designed swimwear or interested in joining a fitness program for cancer patients? Now you can consult the recently updated Cancer Resource Guide of North Central Florida to find […]

Business Report, North Central Florida

The University of Florida may be the face of Gainesville, but health care is its economic backbone.

When Dr. Kenneth Berns arrived in Gainesville in 1976, health care was like a teenager showing lots of promise but still finding itself.

Alachua County Hospital had just moved into a new cornerstone building a year earlier. The 480-bed Veterans Administration Hospital was only nine years old. North Florida Regional Medical Center, founded in 1972, was just getting off the ground.

And the 465-bed Shands Teaching Hospital? […]

WellFlorida News Release
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (Jan. 27, 2011) – Primary healthcare providers in Alachua, Bradford, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Lafayette, Suwannee, and Union counties can now enroll in The Center for the Advancement of Health IT’s (AHIT) Regional Extension Center (REC) program. WellFlorida Council, an authorized outreach partner, will help providers review eligibility standards and enroll in the program. Membership in the program, which is free to eligible providers, allows access to resources and education, and assistance in achieving meaningful use of certified electronic health […]