Ed Ura, Merces President: “Health centers play a very important role in providing quality comprehensive care, cost-effectiveness and access.”
This coming week, communities across the nation are marking the work of local health centers, August 10-16. National Health Center Week is a weeklong celebration to raise awareness of the mission and accomplishments of America’s health centers as local solutions to the often-difficult questions surrounding quality, affordable and accessible health care.
Health centers have historically received bi-partisan praise from the Congress and White House for their accomplishments. Among them:
- Reducing income and ethnic health disparities nationwide, even in the poorest and most challenged communities in the United States;
- Producing $24 billion in annual health system savings;
- Reducing unnecessary hospitalizations and unnecessary emergency room visits; and,
- Generating a system of preventive care that patients regularly use to stay healthy, thus saving lives.
Governors and legislatures across the country have also recognized the vital role of health centers
in improving the health of their various states’ residents as it enhances the public health of local communities.
Because of the work it does with health centers and numerous other employers in various industries, Merces Consulting sees the improved overall health of local communities leading to heathier and more efficient workplaces.
Edmund B. Ura, said:
Merces Consulting works closely across the nation with health centers management to develop effective organization compensation and performance strategies. I have also seen from our work with health centers, the potential positive, long-term impact made upon the local community and the careers of employees of health centers. Community health centers play a very important role in providing quality comprehensive care, cost-effectiveness and access. Merces sees the results from both sides of the table; and, the results are very impressive.
Health centers are, indeed, as this week’s slogan, proclaims: “Local Engines for Healthier Communities. Key to health centers’ accomplishments is patient involvement in service delivery. Governing boards – the majority of whose members must be patients according to grant requirements – manage health center operations. Board members serve as community representatives and make decisions on services provided. Active patient management of health centers assures responsiveness to local needs, and helps guarantee that health centers improve the quality of life for millions of patients in the following ways.
Joseph Ferguson, Director of Advantage Health Centers in Detroit and Warren, Mich., said:
Adhering to strict quality protocols established by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) is at the core of all we, and health centers across the country do. These NCQA standards are key to also establishing comprehensive “in-home” patient care for every consumer.
Health centers meet or exceed nationally accepted practice standards for treatment of chronic conditions. In fact, the Institute of Medicine and the Government Accountability Office have recognized health centers as models for screening, diagnosing, and managing chronic conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, asthma, depression, cancer, and HIV. Health centers’ efforts have led to improved health outcomes for their patients, as well as lowered the cost of treating patients with chronic illness.
In addition to health care savings, health centers also bring much needed economic benefits to the low income communities they serve. Health centers generate more than $20 billion in economic activity for their local communities. Beyond fueling economic activity, they also produced more than 189,000 jobs in some of the country’s most economically deprived neighborhoods.
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ABOUT MERCES CONSULTING
Our Mission – “To Maximize the Return on our Clients’ Human Resources Investment”
Merces Consulting Group, Inc. (“Merces”) is the new name for Management Resource Center, Inc. (MRC), which was founded by the members of the Detroit compensation consulting practice of a major international consulting firm in 1991. The firm’s initial focus was on the development and implementation of employee compensation plans, as well as the collection of compensation and benefits data. Now, even after many years, Merces continues the same approach that has attracted hundreds of clients to the firm since its founding as we continue bringing the high-level professional approach of a major international firm to your door, at a fee structure and costs that nearly any organization can afford.
Over the years, Merces has developed a strong and growing practice in the field of organization design, helping organizations better structure and utilize their human assets. Application of compensation programs to organizational structures is a natural pairing of services. While continuing to work with a broad spectrum of organizations, the firm has established specialty practices focusing on the needs of specific industries. Merces’ Associations practice has worked with dozens of membership organizations, such as trade associations and professional societies. In 2007, Merces formally established a practice devoted to Migrant and Community Health Centers (FQHC), and has since rapidly added clients from across the country to this practice, becoming highly regarded as one of the best consultants in the nation within this field.
Media Contact:
Michael Bsharah, Bsharah Public Relations
306 S. Washington Avenue – Suite 205 – Royal Oak, MI 48067