UB to Initiate Community-Health Outreach Program

The Department of Family Medicine in the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences has been contracted by the Erie County Medical Center (ECMC) to initiate the Bailey Community Outreach Program to assess health needs in the neighborhoods near Bailey Avenue and to promote the Bailey Family Health Center (BFHC) as an available health-care option.

The first phase of the program will survey approximately 2,000 individuals in a door-to-door health assessment to determine how the BFHC can best serve community-health needs.

The Bailey Family Health Center opened in February 1996 using a community approach to meet the health-care needs of residents in the Bailey-Gerald area. One of four family health centers operated by ECMC, it is located at 2589 Bailey Ave., just north of East Delavan Avenue.

Targeted areas for the health survey include households south of the Kensington Expressway to Genesee Street and from Bailey Avenue east to Eggert Road.

The survey is being conducted by the UB family medicine department in conjunction with LEWAC Associates, Inc., a local community-based, health-education agency. It is scheduled to begin in late October and continue until the end of the year.

In phase two, physicians at the BFHC will use the information collected during the survey in developing future health-education programs to match residents' needs. The Department of Family Medicine will help seek funding for such programs.

Long-term goals of the outreach program include increasing the patient base and reliance upon family health centers, expanding the BFHC's role as a community wellness center, as well as a health center, and building a disease-management information base for the BFHC to help with planning and future development focused on the community residents' needs.

As part of the community outreach, BFHC staff also will take steps to make the facility's rooms available for use by other community organizations for meetings and other such events.