Health Care
We need to step up national efforts to fulfill key recommendations put forth by the Institute of Medicine in 2002, including addressing the need for cultural competence in patient care and increasing the number of minority health-care providers.
Greater diversity is needed in the health-care work force. Ethnic and cultural diversity among workers provides improved care where patients and other health-care consumers benefit from insights and understandings that are culturally based.
A February 2004 report commissioned by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration identifies “significant” work force shortages in the acute care, long-term care and primary care health-care provider sectors. The report, titled “Health Care Industry: Identifying and Addressing Workforce Challenges,” is a heads-up on professional opportunities in the industry.
In acute care, for example, it cites a high demand for nurses, laboratory technicians, rural physicians, pharmacists, respiratory therapists, radiology technicians, nuclear technologists, information technicians, laboratory technologists and technicians, service managers and nonprofessional and technical support staff. For long-term care, it cites a need for nursing home administrators, geriatricians, geriatric advanced nurse practitioners and physician assistants prepared in geriatrics. And for primary care, demand is greatest for radiographers to meet the increasing need for mammograms, cytopathology technicians, dental hygienists, dental technicians, medical secretaries and other support staff.
Equally important, the report acknowledges the industry’s need for more ethnically diverse professionals. “Greater diversity is needed in the health-care work force. Ethnic and cultural diversity among workers provides improved care where patients and other health-care consumers benefit from insights and understandings that are culturally based,” it says. For African-American communities reeling from egregious disparities in access to and quality of health care, the acknowledgement carries a promise of targeted training and recruitment of Blacks.
Just over a year after ETA received the report, Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao announced some $43 million in investments to counter shortages in health care and biotechnology. The funds were to be disbursed in the form of grants under President Bush’s High Growth Job Training Initiative and would be used to:
l Increase the number of youth entering the health-care profession.
l Identify alternative labor pools - immigrants, veterans and older workers, for example - that can be tapped and trained.
l Develop alternative training strategies for educating and training health-care professionals, such as apprenticeships, distance learning and accelerated training.
But of the 28 educational, civic and faith-based entities that ETA says received investment grants, none is a Black institution. Dr. Sandra L. Gadson, president of the National Medical Association, the umbrella group for Black physicians, thinks more needs to be done about diversity. “We need to step up national efforts to fulfill key recommendations put forth by the Institute of Medicine in 2002, including addressing the need for cultural competence in patient care and increasing the number of minority health-care providers,” she says in a response to disparity studies published last August in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Medical Tourism
Ballooning costs and unmet demand for health services are prompting patients, government officials, insurers, employers, clinicians and health-care executives alike to search for more efficient, and even alternative, ways to treat and care for patients. Per capita, the United States has the most expensive health-care system in the world. In 2000, the United States spent $4,631 per capita, or 13 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP), on health. Physicians in the United States are paid higher wages than their counterparts internationally, and the average hospital cost of $1,128 per day ranks highest among the 29 member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Denmark is second at $632 per day and Canada third at $489. United States health-care expenditures totaled more than $1.8 trillion in 2004, with some $200 billion going toward prescription drugs alone. Estimates place health expenditures at 18.4 percent of GDP in 2013.
Medical tourism, where foreigners travel as far as Asia and as close as the Caribbean in search of low-cost, world-class medical treatment, is an increasingly popular response to this crisis. Countries that actively promote medical tourism include Cuba, Costa Rica, Hungary, India, Israel, Jordan, Lithuania, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. South Africa offers “medical safaris,” where patients visit the country for a safari, with a stopover for plastic surgery. Medical tourism in India, the leading country promoting the industry, could become a $1 billion business by 2012, estimates show.
Mike Adams, author of the article “Rising Popularity of Medical Tourism Reveals Deterioration of U.S. Healthcare System,” published by NewsTarget.com, a natural-health and wellness news Web site, describes medical tourism facilities as modern hospitals that often are newer and have much better technology and equipment than hospitals in the United States. “They are typically staffed by Western doctors and surgeons trained in Western medicine, and they provide equal or greater quality surgical care than U.S. hospitals. These surgical procedures are performed with the same technology and expertise, yet cost a fraction of the price,” he says.
For the entrepreneurial minded, investment in such offshore facilities is a new trend. Emmanuel Finn, D.D.S., former dental director of the Family Health Center in the Hudson Valley Region of New York, now a consultant on oral and general health policy, is touting the investment potential of Dominica in the eastern Caribbean. He cites the medicinal values of the island’s natural resources, such as its sulfur springs, boiling lake, hot springs waterfalls and tropical rain forests as ideal for natural healing. “Dominica is uniquely qualified to capitalize on…health tourism. The holistic healing powers of plants and herbs, such as “bazalick,” “seimeicountrar (teas),” “tabac zobie” (jumbie’s tobacco) and others, should be continuously promoted,” says the Dominican-born dentist. “This use of natural plants, herbs and other forms of healing will only get bigger as people continue to seek more alternative and less invasive treatment modalities to cure their illnesses.”
IT Investment
The growing popularity of medical tourism will increase pressure for investment in high-tech medical information systems to move patient information in real time. The pressure is already intense in all aspects of the health-care delivery system, from hospitals to private practices, to invest in electronic medical record (EMR) systems. The price tag for these technologies is high, however, and comes at a time when health-care facilities and physician practices are struggling to stay in the black.
Additionally, IT investments must compete with many other business opportunities for a facility, such as expanding services or upgrading. U.S. health-care organizations spend less than 3 percent to 4 percent of their budgeted capital on IT, far less than other information-intensive industries.
Even so, health-care professionals, business executives and entrepreneurs should prepare themselves for an increasingly technology-driven industry, industry analysts advise. In its report, “Creating the Future Hospital System,” consulting giant Price Waterhouse Coopers describes the future landscape:
l Leading hospitals will succeed by targeting high-margin, high-volume and high-quality services.
l New payer models will require providers to strategically price services.
l Demands on health-care workers will keep turnover high.
l Aging physical structures must be replaced or renovated.
l Caregivers and patients will demand information at their fingertips.
l Physicians will want better support to benefit from new technologies.
Disparities in African-American Health
Asthma
-African-American children are five times more likely to die of asthma than white American children.
-African-Americans have the highest rate asthma attack of all ethnic groups, and are three times more likely than whites to be hospitalized for asthma.
Cancer
-Blacks are more likely to get cancer and to die of the disease than those from other racial and ethnic groups.
-Compared to white men, Black men are 1.5 times more likely to develop prostate cancer and two to three times more likely to die of the disease.
Diabetes
-The prevalence of diabetes is 70 percent higher among African-Americans as compared to white Americans.
Heart disease
-African-Americans have the highest overall coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality rate and the highest out-of-hospital coronary death rate of any ethnic group in the United States.
-More Blacks have heart attacks (first heart attack) each year than whites—in every age group.
Hypertension
-One of the main reasons that Blacks have higher rates of stroke, kidney failure and heart failure than whites is untreated or inadequately controlled high blood pressure.
Lead poisoning
-Black children are five times more likely than white children to have lead poisoning. Low-level exposures to lead are associated with lower IQ, learning disabilities and behavioral problems.
-One in seven Black children living in older housing has elevated levels of lead in the blood, a number significantly above the national average.
Lupus
-Lupus affects Black women three times more than white women.
-The death rate among Black women with lupus rose by 70 percent from 1979 to 1998.
Sarcoidosis
-African-Americans are eight times more likely than white Americans to be struck by sarcoidosis, a chronic disease that interferes with the functioning of vital organs, especially the lungs.
-The death rate from sarcoidosis is 15 to 17 times higher for African-Americans than for whites.
Source: Trust for America’s Health, www.healthyamericans.org; Luther T. Clark, M.D., F.A.C.C., F.A.C.P., State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, Kings County Hospital Center.
ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE PRACTITIONERS
A survey by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) and the National Center for Health Statistics identified the most commonly used CAM therapies as prayer, natural products, deep breathing exercises, meditation, chiropractic care, yoga, massage and diet-based therapies. Following is a list of Black CAM practitioners in New York and New Jersey.
ACUPUNCTURE
F. Kennedy Gordon, M.D.
Union, N.J.
908-688-2424
Monica Martin, M.D.
New York, N.Y.
212-213-8889
Sheila Mason
Englewood, N.J.
201-871-8633
Nicole Sasson, M.D.
New York, N.Y.
212-263-6121
AYURVEDA
Dawn Burrowes
(Also massage and aroma therapies)
Body Essentials Day Spa & Ayurvedic Center
New York, N.Y.
212-465-2220
CHIROPRACTIC
Alfred Davis Jr.
Davis Chiropractic Center
Montclair, N.J.
973-783-3606
Marie Georgette Gerard
Elmont, N.Y.
516-616-5187
Derek Lezama
Brooklyn, N.Y.
718-629-4020
Genetta Greer Mitchell
Total Chiropractic P.C.
Hempstead, N.Y.
516-486-0015
HOLISTIC HEALTH
Queen Afua
Heal Thyself Center
Brooklyn, N.Y.
718-221-4325
HOLISTIC & CHINESE MEDICINE
Kamau Kokayi, M.D., A.A.M.A.
Olive Leaf Wholeness Center
New York, N.Y.
212-477-0405
INTEGRATED
MEDICINE
Kathryn Boyce-Piper, R.N., A.A.D.P.
Olive Leaf Wholeness Center
New York, N.Y.
212-477-0405;
212-252-4741
MASSAGE THERAPY
Xiomara Brathwaite, N.C.T.M.B.
Olive Leaf Spa
New York, N.Y.
212-477-0405;
917-597-5919
Sean Lee Chong
Brooklyn, N.Y.
718-287-3443
Tracey Jones
Bronx, N.Y.
718-828-6167
Elvis Gardin, L.M.T.
Jersey City, N.J.
201-892-6412
www.lotusandthebutterfly.com
Diana Smith Gordon, L.M.T.
Uhane Lomi (Spirit Massage)
Brooklyn, N.Y.
347- 613-9123
Aisha Shakti Hakim, L.M.T.
(Also aromatherapy)
Brooklyn, N.Y.
718-857-9647
healingoasis@yahoo.com
Keith T. Hanson, L.M.T.
West Hempstead, N.Y.
516-312-7519
www.promassage.us
Kristina Hinckson, B.S., L.M.T., N.C.T.M.B.
Unlimited Bliss
Mobile, serving Northern to Central New Jersey
1-866-33-BLISS
(1-866-332-5177)
www.unlimitedbliss.com/
Beverley Hutchinson, L.M.T.
(Also acupuncture
and reiki)
New York, N.Y.
212-946-5609
Tracey Jones, L.M.T.
(Also aromatherapy, reiki)
Bronx, N.Y.
718-828-6167
Diantha F. King, L.M.T.
(By appointment only)
Plainfield, N.J.
908-209-2178
Gisela Lino, L.M.T.
Brooklyn, N.Y.
347-393-0212
Pat Logan, L.M.T.
New York, N.Y.
212-280-7345
Hugh Mabray, L.M.T.
Healthpoint Chiropractic
College Point, N.Y.
516-313-8368
Donna Madison, L.M.T.
Massapequa, N.Y.
healinghandsdm@
netzero.net
516-312-5704
Christina Martin, L.M.T.
Westbury, N.Y.
516-678-0840
Marie Philippeaux, L.M.T.
New York, N.Y.
212-330-7468
m_philippeaux@
hotmail.com
Lizelle Robinson, L.M.T.
(Also reiki, auricular acupuncture,
aromatherapy)
“I've Got Your Back” Therapeutic Body Massage
New York, N.Y. 10026
212-726-3165
Sarah E. Rudolph
New York, N.Y.
212-802-5219
Maiya Thompson, L.M.T.
My World/Spagasm
Corona, N.Y.
917-349-3310
www.spagasm.net
Doinette Sanders, L.M.T.
(Also acupressure; certified colon hygienist)
Supreme Living Inc.
Bronx, N.Y.
718-798-9308
www.supremeliving.com
Jason Turner, L.M.T.
Divine Touch Spa Services
Riverhead, N.Y.
917-405-4320
Michael Williams, L.M.T.
Elmont, N.Y.
516-849-3904
Mary E. White, L.M.T.
Virtuous Massage & Wellness
Hopewell Junction, N.Y.
845-518-3241
REIKI
Xiomara Brathwaite, N.C.T.M.B.
Olive Leaf Spa
New York, N.Y.
212-477-0405;
917-597-5919
Lisa Marie Bronson
(Also associate polarity practitioner)
Fire Lotus Polarity Arts
New York, N.Y.
917-340-1479
Jamilya Hartley
Brooklyn, N.Y.
718-953-0998
Beverley Hutchinson (see Massage Therapy, Acupuncture)
Tracey Jones
(see Massage Therapy)
Julie Novas
(Also chakra, crystal healing, lay massage therapist)
Brooklyn, N.Y.
718-431-2572
Spanish/English. Reiki master in the Usui system of natural healing
Other
Rev. Atiya Antoinette F. Aniton, C.N.S., R.D., C.D.N., M.A., Ms. C.
Wholefully Youth Health
Newark, N.J.
973-449-4972
www.wholefullyyou.com
By appointment only in N.Y.C. and via telephone. Board-certified nutrition specialist, registered
dietitian, licensed aesthetician, reiki.
Devya
Devya & Associates
New York, N.Y.
212-749-8564; 800-749-6360
www.Devya.com
Meditation mentor;
gong master
Ras Solomon
Herbal nutritionist; food therapist; exercise therapist; hygienist
Brooklyn, N.Y.
718-826-2728
Glenda Springer
Crystal healing; emotional clearing with aromatherapy
Brooklyn, N.Y.
718-360-4673
Marie Wright
Quantum Holistic Center
South Plainfield, N.J.
908-668-1115
Holistic health and nutrition counseling; massage therapy, colon hydrotherapy, raw food workshops; meditation, personal training
