Brooklyn, NY – OBH@ Bishop Walker Family Care Center is proud to partner with United Way of New York City (UWNYC) to support community-based health promotion and preventative care services for New York City populations who are on Medicaid, under or uninsured, have chronic health diseases, or are at risk for morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and obesity.
Together, these organizations are partnering on a Preventative Care Access Program, which is supported by grant funds. The program also seeks to address maternal morbidity by supporting health screenings for pregnant women for early detection of hypertension and gestational diabetes. Managed by UWNYC and funded through the New York State Department of Health, this valuable program enables Bishop Walker to expand services offered to the community throughout the borough of Brooklyn.
Clinical partnerships with patient-centered practices like Bishop Walker Health Care Center help provide comprehensive and integrated healthcare services, which include health screenings, preventative health services that support chronic conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, and immunizations against serious illnesses like the flu and COVID-19. Services include education and counseling to help patients make positive lifestyle choices that protect their health and well-being.
“This partnership is critical to our community, as the primary goals of preventive healthcare are to reduce the risk, identify health problems before symptoms develop, and prevent complications, “said Dr. Gwen Lewis, VP of Ambulatory Care. “Early diagnosis leads to early intervention, which is key to preventing a disease from progressing to the point where it is more difficult to treat successfully. This grant also enables us to extend access to care for those community residents who are not currently linked to care.”
Bishop Walker is a neighborhood-based healthcare facility that partners with their culturally diverse communities to provide a continuum of outstanding services to individuals and families through a caring, trustworthy team of medical professionals. Services are patient-centered and supported by the Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) model of care. As part of their patient-centered focus, Bishop Walker is committed to providing personalized preventive care, which involves tailoring disease prevention approaches to an individual’s specific risks and characteristics.
This demands that healthcare providers work with individuals to determine risk factors, including age, family history, lifestyle, medical history, and genetic predispositions, based on the individual’s genetic profile. Then, a personalized preventive care plan can be implemented. This plan may include recommended screenings and interventions such as lifestyle modifications. This type of care improves risk prediction, leads to earlier detection, and allows for early intervention.
Regular screenings offer the opportunity to identify these silent conditions before they result in serious health issues. Examples of such silent conditions include hypertension, diabetes, and some cancers, such as pancreatic cancer. Early diagnosis of these silent conditions through regular check-ups can improve disease outcomes.
“Preventive healthcare is essential for long-term health maintenance. It has the potential to save lives through the early detection (and therefore early treatment) of serious diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and stroke,” Dr. Lewis stated. “Regular screenings and check-ups—including those using advanced imaging techniques such as the MRI scans enable individuals to take proactive steps to decrease their chances of developing serious diseases or further disease complications.”
Staff at Bishop Walker will also host community events, providing free screenings and education as part of this effort.
About OBH@ Bishop Walker:
Bishop Walker is a neighborhood-based healthcare facility that provides a continuum of outstanding services to individuals and families. Bishop Walker is located at 528 Prospect Place, Brooklyn NY. For more information call 718-613-6800 or visit onebrooklynhealth.org.
About United Way of New York City:
For 87 years, United Way of New York City has been a force multiplier for good. We work at the intersection of government, private, and public partners to positively affect our communities, maximizing impact by coordinating and aligning service providers, companies, local government and New Yorkers to help people eliminate barriers and gain the agency to improve their lives for the better. To learn more, visit unitedwaynyc.org.