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Malaysian Reserve
24-04-2025
- Health
- Malaysian Reserve
Center for Better Aging Extends Chicago Testing, Diagnostic Access
St. Bernard Hospital CT/Mammography Suite Addresses South Side's Health Risks CHICAGO, April 23, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — The Center for Better Aging has completed its first capital investment, bringing much-needed access to advanced health screening and diagnostic resources to South Side residents. A next-generation CT and mammography suite will provide heart scans and early breast cancer detection. This milestone brings advanced 3D imaging equipment to the St. Bernard Ambulatory Care Center at 6307 S. Stewart Ave. 'Many South Siders over 50 have heart disease, cancers or other conditions that go untreated,' said Center for Better Aging Executive Director Estrelitta Harmon. 'Access to advanced health screening technology will help older adults enjoy long, active, and fulfilling lives in our community.' General contractor Ujamaa Construction demonstrated the skill and capacity of the South Side workforce on a project requiring high precision and quality. Ujamaa and its subcontractors included 56% minority and 19% women-owned small businesses. Chicago-based Ujamaa is the Midwest's largest minority-owned builder. The construction project helped build the capacity of the South Side workforce, employing people like Antoine Young, a Ujamaa project engineering intern working toward a construction management degree at Kennedy-King College. 'Working on small and large jobsites, Antoine could see firsthand how a project comes together and how issues get resolved,' said Center for Better Aging Director of Construction and Facilities Elliot Echols. DL3 Realty provided concept development, feasibility studies, design and planning to expand imaging facilities in an environment of rising material costs and supply chain disruptions. Screening, Diagnostic Resources Raise Care Quality The 1,800-square-foot facility renovation is supported by a grant from the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services under the state's Healthcare Transformation Collaboratives program, which aims to improve health outcomes. The 3D imaging lab brings a wide range of advanced testing and diagnostics to the St. Bernard Hospital campus. The medical screening and diagnostic technology will help Chicago Southland doctors provide early and accurate detection of heart disease, aggressive cancers, emphysema and bone conditions such as osteoporosis. Early detection of cardiac risk is vital to serving an area with high rates of diagnosis for heart disease and high blood pressure. Heart disease was a top concern in St. Bernard Hospital's recent Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA). Englewood and West Englewood have the area's highest rates of stroke, the CHNA report found. 'Preventing coronary artery disease takes data and diagnostics that are not available in most community hospitals,' said St. Bernard Hospital Chief Operating Officer Roland Abellera. 'With advanced 3D imaging, we can produce a calcium score to screen people for their hidden heart risk. Our board-certified cardiologists then can order high-quality diagnostic testing.' The expanded suite will help reduce wait times for critical diagnostic tests and ensure patients have access to affordable follow-up care, removing a significant barrier to healthcare access on the South Side. 'Nearly all of our patients are enrolled in Medicaid or Medicare,' Abellera said. 'The Center for Better Aging's care coordination will make sure older adults with medical transportation needs and fixed incomes are referred to specialists within their coverage networks.' 3D Mammography Aims for Early Detection and Treatment Advanced 3D imaging will also be available in the St. Bernard Hospital Ambulatory Care Center's expanded mammography suite. A relaxation room is designed to encourage breast exams and make the process as stress-free as possible. Three massage chairs, calming imagery, dimmed lighting, and fresh water provide a soothing environment. The facility's expanded capacity will reduce wait times, further reducing patient anxiety. An American Cancer Society analysis found that Black women were 40% more likely to die from breast cancer than white women, a heightened health concern that timely, accurate testing and diagnostics can address. 'A 3D mammogram allows cancers to be found earlier,' said Dr. Marijan Pejic, medical director for radiology at St. Bernard Hospital. 'The Center for Better Aging project directly addresses this discrepancy with access to newer breast imaging technology. A second mammography room allows us to reduce the diagnostic delays that may be associated with later-stage breast cancer.' The capital investment aims to improve health outcomes for older South Siders, said Center for Better Aging Medical Director Dr. Monica Mahajan. 'Precise, less invasive imaging can be safer than exploratory surgeries or biopsies,' Mahajan said. 'The imaging suite will aid in treating and managing abdominal diseases, bone fractures, cancers, heart diseases, neurological disorders, and other serious age-related medical conditions.' 'We also are sensitive to issues involved in testing older adults,' Dr. Mahajan said. 'Many experience frailty, mobility limitations, and multiple comorbidities that can complicate the testing process. Medications also can contribute to adverse reactions during imaging.' The Center for Better Aging's medical team arranges medical transportation and ensures that caregivers can support loved ones during imaging sessions. 'Family involvement plays a crucial role in supporting older adults throughout the imaging process, from scheduling to providing comfort during testing,' Dr. Mahajan said. 'Tailored protocols and empathetic care ensure that our members receive the accurate and effective diagnostic services they deserve.' About the Center for Better Aging The Center for Better Aging is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the lifelong health of adults age 50+ on Chicago's South Side. In partnership with local organizations, CBA offers medical and wellness services across the St. Bernard Hospital campus, in members' homes and through community outreach. By bringing together medical experts with advanced diagnostic equipment, CBA enhances well-being through predictive, preventive, personalized, and participatory care. Governed by a coalition based at St. Bernard Hospital, CBA is part of the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services' Healthcare Transformation Collaboratives program. For more information about the Center for Better Aging's mission and programs, visit and the CBA's Facebook and LinkedIn pages. MEDIA CONTACTJohn HiltnerPurpose Brandjhiltner@
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
UW Health accused of not meeting federal standards in report
ABC for Health, a public interest law firm, argues that a Dane County health assessment should have addressed the problem of medical debt. (Getty Images) ABC for Health, the public interest law firm, has filed a complaint with the IRS, charging a team of hospitals led by UW Health of falling short of federal standards when they filed a Community Health Needs Assessment required of health nonprofits under federal law. Late last year, the hospitals released their report on the health needs of Dane County. Federal law requires nonprofit health care providers to file such a document every three years. The December report covered reproductive care, chronic illness, mental health and substance abuse, along with special sections about health concerns for children and youth as well as the elderly. But in 63 pages, the report included no discussion of how the cost of care and medical debt have burdened people without money and hampered their access to the health care system. For Bobby Peterson, that was a glaring omission — and on Thursday, Peterson and ABC for Health, the firm he founded and directs, filed a complaint with the IRS, charging the report doesn't live up to the federal law's requirement for a Community Health Heeds Assessment (CHNA). ABC for Health focuses on health care access along with helping people overcome or avoid medical debt. The organization's complaint argues that failing to address that issue in the Dane County health needs document violates the collective responsibility of UW Health and the other three nonprofit hospital systems that produced it. 'Their insistence to exclude medical debt from consideration during the CHNA betrays many principles and requirements of non-profit hospitals,' the complaint states. 'We maintain that UW Health's intentional indifference towards the medical debt epidemic stems from a value for their own revenue at the expense of their community. That value is at odds with UW Health's duty towards its community.' Sara Benzel, media relations manager for UW Health, defended the report Thursday as well as the hospital system's handling of medical debt. 'UW Health stands behind the priorities identified in the community health needs assessment process,' Benzel told the Wisconsin Examiner in an email message. 'Regarding the UW Health Financial Assistance Policy, we are proud of the work we do every day to make this support accessible, and the work we have done to simplify the process and lower barriers to accessing financial support.' She said the hospital system's financial assistance program is posted online in English and Spanish. 'The application has been simplified over the years using an equity lens, requires minimal supporting documents, and goes up to 600% of the federal poverty level, well above others in the state,' Benzel said. ABC for Health has been a longstanding critic of hospitals' handling of medical debt and has published several reports finding fault with how hospital systems address the problem of patients unable to pay their health care bills. While hospitals have programs for financial help when a patient has no insurance and can't afford to pay out of pocket, ABC has argued those programs are too often needlessly complex. The organization also contends that hospitals' financial counselors don't take actions that could circumvent a problem — such as helping patients enroll in Medicaid if they qualify. The requirement for a Community Health Heeds Assessment is a little-noticed provision in the 2010 Affordable Care Act — the legislation nicknamed Obamacare that has helped drive down the numbers of uninsured Americans since its passage 15 years ago. Nonprofit health care systems must produce a CHNA report for their communities every three years. 'The IRS is regulating this because they are looking at their tax-exempt status,' Peterson said Thursday. 'And to be a tax-exempt organization, to be able to step away from all the property tax requirements that many of us face, they have a responsibility then to give back.' He sees a hospital's approach to medical debt as a direct measure of how they give back. 'They have a community benefit that they need to provide, and part of that benefit is making sure that they're providing enough charity care and services to the vulnerable in a community,' Peterson said. The 2025-2027 CHNA report, like several previous editions, was the work of Healthy Dane Collaborative, a coalition of the county's four hospital systems: Unity Point-Meriter, SSM Health-St. Mary's Hospital, Stoughton Health and UW Health. The report's drafters conducted a survey, collected and analyzed data, met with a variety of community organizations and held focus groups The final report included discussions of health care disparities by race, income and gender. It called attention to the health care needs of the LGBTQ and immigrant communities, including undocumented migrants. Early on, the text of the report emphasized concern for health equity — 'ensuring fair distribution of health resources, outcomes, and opportunities across different communities.' At an ABC for Health symposium Thursday on Medicaid and health care access, Peterson said the report's priorities were 'good things' and were all important. 'But what we wanted to see was access to health care coverage,' Peterson said, along with a discussion about improving financial assistance policies and better coordination among providers. 'It wasn't there. That's not part of what they wanted to give out to the community.' Peterson said ABC started reaching out more than a year and a half ago to offer input for the CHNA report. 'We wanted to make sure that the people that are in the planning process understand what the access to health care coverage needs are, what the barriers in the financial assistance process are, and how can we make it better. What can we do to improve that process?' Peterson said. 'We thought this is a real opportunity for us to make sure that all these issues that we see every day can be put up in this Community Health Needs Assessment process,' he added. 'We wanted our voice and the voice of our clients to be heard.' The IRS complaint includes email messages ABC Health sent various people about the assessment process starting in mid-2023. In a message Aug. 13, 2024, Peterson told Adrian Jones, UW Health Director of Community Health Improvement, 'ABC remains eager to engage in Dane County's 2024 CHNA process.' The message asked for updates on the CHNA 'process and timeline' and mentioned that ABC for Health was 'preparing a report with recommendations to provide input, from the perspective of our clients, to inform Dane County's CHNA process.' In her Aug. 14 reply, Jones invited Peterson to 'share your report with us.' She wrote that 'we have also held our own community input sessions and survey and have analyzed a lot of quantitative and qualitative data.' Peterson followed up with an email Aug. 16 that included a half-dozen questions about the data being collected, when and where community meetings had been conducted, whether more community meetings were planned and the timeline for completing the assessment document. 'ABC for Health is eager to continue engagement with the Dane County CHNA process,' Peterson wrote. 'Please keep us posted about future community input sessions and meetings.' There was no further response, and 'the Dane County hospitals quietly released the CHNA report in late 2024, without ABC's input that we maintain failed to take into account the perspective of the many communities we represent,' the complaint to the IRS states. 'Unsurprisingly, this report ignored access to health care coverage issues. The report lacks any recommendations to improve financial assistance policies, practices, and processes to equitably serve populations negatively affected by health disparities. It fails to address the impact of medical debt on Dane County patients,' the complaint states. 'It lacks broad community input and instead reflects a hospital-driven marketing piece that ignores and sidesteps Affordable Care Act requirements. ABC was largely shunned despite our multiple efforts over the past 2 years to provide client-based input.' ABC for Health released its report shortly after Peterson learned that the CNHA report was published. Its critique was unsparing. 'Dane County hospitals must do more to justify extensive tax breaks and better serve patients impacted by health disparities,' the report states. 'In 2023, Dane County hospitals spent an average of only 0.7% of their gross patient revenues on charity care. The national average is 2.3%.' ABC for Health bases its calculations for Dane County charity care on Wisconsin Hospital Association data, and the national average on a 2022 Wall Street Journal report. Peterson sent a letter reiterating ABC for Health's concerns and the organization's complaint about its lack of input in the CNHA report to UW Health's CEO, Alan Kaplan, in January. He said there was no response. ABC for Health also invited Kaplan and other hospital leaders to the ABC for Health event Thursday. The invitations were ignored or declined, Peterson said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
