'I could have been dead by today'
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BY JERRY DAVICH
jdavich@nwitimes.com
219.933.3376 | Tuesday, August 08, 2006 | (No comments posted.)
VALPARAISO | Was Lura Toth's life saved by divine miracle or random whim?
On May 4, 2005, the 52-year-old Valparaiso artist attended a free afternoon tea at Hilltop Community Health Center. The annual event is designed for uninsured women ages 40 to 64 to learn about women's health issues and the state's breast and cervical cancer program.
A friend suggested Toth attend as more of a casual social opportunity than a medical educational forum. So she did.
Toth drank tea, chatted with new friends and signed up for free screening tests, compliments of Hilltop, including a pap smear and mammogram.
"I felt healthy. But I figured I'd take the tests, because it's been so long," she said.
Both Toth and her husband are artists -- and uninsured -- and she had gone 13 years without either test. Like many uninsured patients at Hilltop and other community health centers, Toth felt forced to live by the credo, "It's better not to know," about serious health issues.
But the pap smear revealed Toth had a fast-growing form of cervical cancer. Hilltop helped get Toth approved for Medicaid, and also a surgery date for last August. A total hysterectomy was performed and today Toth is cancer free, she said.
"Doctors said I could have died within a year if I wasn't diagnosed," Toth said.
On Thursday, to highlight National Community Health Center Week, Toth will be the guest speaker at this year's tea event, where she hopes to encourage other women to sign up for free medical tests and get to know Hilltop's programs.
Hilltop Director Beth Wrobel said although her clinic meets 100 new patients each month, too many uninsured residents still know nothing about community health centers and their free or discounted programs.
In Northwest Indiana, there are four federally funded health centers -- in Portage, Valparaiso, East Chicago and Gary.
"That's why this week is so important, to get the word out," said Wrobel, whose center is expanding and set for an official dedication in September.
In 2004, federally funded community health centers served as the family doctor and medical home for 143,491 Hoosier patients, according to the National Association of Community Health Centers.
For the record, Toth calls her visit to Hilltop that day a miracle.
"If I didn't attend that tea I could have been dead by today."
Hilltop "tea" event this Thursday
Hilltop Community Health Center in Valparaiso is hosting its third annual tea event at 1 p.m. Thursday for uninsured women to find out about women's health and specifically the state’s breast and cervical cancer program.
The center provides medical services based on a patient's income and accepts Medicare, Hoosier Healthwise, Medicaid and sliding-fee patients. For more information on the free event, call (219) 462-7173 ext. 221.
What are community health centers?
Health centers are local, nonprofit, community-owned health care providers serving low-income and medically underserved communities.
For 40 years, health centers have provided high-quality, affordable primary care and preventive services to the nation’s most vulnerable populations -- people who have no health insurance or those who, even if insured, would nonetheless remain isolated from medical care because of where they live, who they are, the language they speak or their complex health care needs.
Health centers improve access to care for millions of Americans regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay. They offer services that many other providers do not, such as transportation, translation and culturally sensitive health care that can overcome common barriers.
Their costs of care rank among the lowest, and they reduce the need for more expensive hospital in-patient and specialty care, producing significant savings for taxpayers.
Source: National Association of Community Health Centers
NorthShore Health Centers hosts open house today
NorthShore Health Centers is celebrating National Health Center Week 2006 with an open house today, set for 3 to 6 p.m., at the Stacy McKay Health and Education Center, 6450 U.S. 6.
For more details, visit www.healthcenterweek.org or call (219) 763-8112, ext. 5357.
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