Rep. John Lewis Speaks Out at National Healthcare for the Homeless Day
“We are all one people, one family, the human family.” That is a philosophy Rep. John Lewis often advocates. Nowhere is its meaning more potent than in the issues of homelessness and health care. Recent studies have shown that urban populations of homeless people have high rates of tuberculosis, pneumonia, influenza, and other airborne diseases, as well as other communicable diseases like HIV/AIDS.
On National Healthcare for the Homeless Day, Rep. John Lewis will join others in the Atlanta metro area who assert that finding some way to allow the homeless to have access to healthcare service protects us all. Taking care of the homeless is also taking care of ourselves. The event, sponsored by St. Joseph’s Mercy Care Services, will offer discussion and information about homeless health issues with a view toward future legislative action on national healthcare. Rep. Lewis will also present St. Joseph’s with a $379,355 to support Mercy Care Services new electronic medical record (EMR) system. Free health screenings will be provided and the day will conclude with the dedication of Saint Joseph's new twenty-bed Recuperative Care Unit, the first of its kind in Atlanta.
National Healthcare for the Homeless Day is an opportunity to focus on the healthcare needs of the homeless, traditionally excluded from healthcare policy discussions. It occurs annually during the National Healthcare for the Homeless Council and the National Association of Community Health Centers’ (NACHC) National Health Center Week, August 10-16.
Who: Rep. John LewisHorace Sibley
What: National Healthcare for the Homeless Day, sponsored by Saint Joseph’s Mercy Care Services;When: August 13, 2008Dedication of the new Saint Joseph’s Mercy Care Recuperative Care Unit
1:30 PM
Where: Gateway Center275 Pryor Street
Atlanta, GA 30303
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Contact:
Brenda Jones
(202) 226 - 4673