This is an outstanding example of a community seeing the needs of their
men. Men are in a crisis situation with health care in this country today.
Baltimore opens nation’s first men’s health center
The Baltimore City Health Department (BCHD) in partnership with the W.K.
Kellogg Foundation’s Community Voices: Healthcare for the Underserved, and
the Vision For Health Consortium, recently opened the nation’s first
fulltime men’s health center, specially designed for males between the ages
of 19 and 64, who are uninsured or underinsured.
“The Men’s Health Center is a model for municipalities nationwide struggling
with the medical and social consequences of the growing numbers of men
without health insurance,” says, Hakim Farrakhan, Deputy Commissioner, BCHD.
The Men’s Health Center closes the gap for the estimated 55,000 city men who
have no health insurance. While there are a number of facilities providing
services for uninsured women and children, men who lack health benefits
because they are unemployed, work contractually or part-time and cannot
afford to purchase health insurance, often postpone routine care.
Studies have shown that many of these men will self-treat or seek emergency
room services when their illness becomes acute. For a public health
department charged with ensuring the good health of all its citizens these
options are both inadequate and expensive.
Our goal is to build healthy families, one man at a time. The Men’s Health
Center provides access to quality primary care, regardless of a man’s
ability to pay, says Farrakhan.
Since its opening, the center has treated middle aged men who haven’t seen a
doctor in decades, young working fathers and students from a nearby college.
Through the center’s outreach strategy, 44% of the patients seen are
employed.
In order to improve the health status of men “we must address all the issues
a man without health insurance may encounter,” says Lawrence Shorter Project
Manager, Kellogg Foundation’s Community Voices initiative.
After being seen by a medical provider, each man is assigned an outreach
worker, who can link him to a
comprehensive network of services, including career counseling, drug
treatment, dental care and pharmacy assistance.
The center is funded by the Baltimore City Health Department and private
grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and
Vision For Health Consortium.
Before the year is out, the BCHD plans to expand services to include primary
care and outreach at the Men’s Center in East Baltimore and align with the
Park Heights Community Health Alliance to launch a new men’s health facility
in Northwest Baltimore.