MONROE - A new grassroots organization in Green County is seeking funds for startup costs, as well as to secure a clinical facility in Monroe, to provide preventative, routine medical, dental and mental health care at low cost, affordable fees.
Several professionals have joined forces to form the board of directors of HomeTown Wellness Care, Inc., a Wisconsin-based, non-profit health care organization responsible for operating a clinic for people of all ages who are uninsured and under-insured.
The impetus for HomeTown Wellness Care (HTWC) came from a market survey taken by volunteers this summer at the Green County fair, according to AnnaMaria Blivin, founder and CEO.
"We, everybody, are paying a huge price for the uninsured," Blivin said. "HomeTown Wellness Care is an affordable way to help ourselves share the cost in a different way."
Bliven wants Monroe to be the "birthplace of the first clinic" for medical, mental and dental preventative care, which would become a model for many more health centers to come. The organization is aiming for a late-2012 opening date for the first clinic.
The business model allows for patients to become members by paying an affordable monthly membership fee, determined by their family size and annual income. There is also an incentive program offering the potential to reduce the membership fee by up to 20 percent for meeting set health and wellness objectives that can greatly improve the quality of life for patients.
Blivin said the need for preventative care is high in Green County.
According to the HTWC July survey of the more than 2,000 people living in Green County zip codes, 60 percent had no dental insurance and 36 percent had no medical or dental health insurance.
Working at the county's Fowler Memorial Free Dental Clinic that opened in 2009 to serve children ages 3 to 12 years old, Blivin said she hears many stories from uninsured and under-insured people who have problems accessing affordable health care and find themselves in emergency situations that may have been avoided with preventative, routine checkups.
In one story Blivin recalled, a woman, unaware she had become diabetic, became paralyzed following a stroke. The woman had not sought an early medical checkup, because her husband had been unemployed for 10 years, said Blivin, and when he did find a job, the employer did not offer health insurance coverage.
The stories moved Blivin to seek a solution.
"As a society, can we do something to keep people from becoming chronically ill?" she asked.
"It's a misnomer that because people are uninsured, that they don't want insurance or that they are lazy or stupid," she said. "Of the 36 percent who had no medical coverage in our survey, 82 percent are employed. It's just that employers are not coming up with benefit programs."
Offering medical benefits to employees is hard for small businesses to manage financially, she added.
Blivin did some homework and, from the most recent reports of County Health Rankings for Wisconsin, found the percentage of Green County residents going without health care or suffering from chronic illnesses, such as diabetes, are above average the state averages.
The problem forced Blivin to seek partners in her idea to revolutionize local intervention for affordable, preventative health care, including dental, mental and vision and hearing screenings.
Blivin said the organization is not seeking federal grant money. The clinic's operating costs will be financed by loans, grants, private donations and local fundraising activities, starting with a major fundraising effort Saturday, Nov. 12. The organization has already announced Monroe-based Colony Brands Inc. as a sponsor of HTWC and is seeking continued support from individuals and community agencies.
"This is a grassroots effort," she said.
Several professionals have joined forces to form the board of directors of HomeTown Wellness Care, Inc., a Wisconsin-based, non-profit health care organization responsible for operating a clinic for people of all ages who are uninsured and under-insured.
The impetus for HomeTown Wellness Care (HTWC) came from a market survey taken by volunteers this summer at the Green County fair, according to AnnaMaria Blivin, founder and CEO.
"We, everybody, are paying a huge price for the uninsured," Blivin said. "HomeTown Wellness Care is an affordable way to help ourselves share the cost in a different way."
Bliven wants Monroe to be the "birthplace of the first clinic" for medical, mental and dental preventative care, which would become a model for many more health centers to come. The organization is aiming for a late-2012 opening date for the first clinic.
The business model allows for patients to become members by paying an affordable monthly membership fee, determined by their family size and annual income. There is also an incentive program offering the potential to reduce the membership fee by up to 20 percent for meeting set health and wellness objectives that can greatly improve the quality of life for patients.
Blivin said the need for preventative care is high in Green County.
According to the HTWC July survey of the more than 2,000 people living in Green County zip codes, 60 percent had no dental insurance and 36 percent had no medical or dental health insurance.
Working at the county's Fowler Memorial Free Dental Clinic that opened in 2009 to serve children ages 3 to 12 years old, Blivin said she hears many stories from uninsured and under-insured people who have problems accessing affordable health care and find themselves in emergency situations that may have been avoided with preventative, routine checkups.
In one story Blivin recalled, a woman, unaware she had become diabetic, became paralyzed following a stroke. The woman had not sought an early medical checkup, because her husband had been unemployed for 10 years, said Blivin, and when he did find a job, the employer did not offer health insurance coverage.
The stories moved Blivin to seek a solution.
"As a society, can we do something to keep people from becoming chronically ill?" she asked.
"It's a misnomer that because people are uninsured, that they don't want insurance or that they are lazy or stupid," she said. "Of the 36 percent who had no medical coverage in our survey, 82 percent are employed. It's just that employers are not coming up with benefit programs."
Offering medical benefits to employees is hard for small businesses to manage financially, she added.
Blivin did some homework and, from the most recent reports of County Health Rankings for Wisconsin, found the percentage of Green County residents going without health care or suffering from chronic illnesses, such as diabetes, are above average the state averages.
The problem forced Blivin to seek partners in her idea to revolutionize local intervention for affordable, preventative health care, including dental, mental and vision and hearing screenings.
Blivin said the organization is not seeking federal grant money. The clinic's operating costs will be financed by loans, grants, private donations and local fundraising activities, starting with a major fundraising effort Saturday, Nov. 12. The organization has already announced Monroe-based Colony Brands Inc. as a sponsor of HTWC and is seeking continued support from individuals and community agencies.
"This is a grassroots effort," she said.