HealthBeat
^
crceKSMe earns honor
Creekside Terrace, 3895 Old Vineyard
Road, a Holiday Retirement community,
recently was presented with a SeniorAdvisor j
"Best of Senior Living" award for receiving
consistently high ratings from residents and
their families in 2014.
SeniorAdvisor.copi is a consumer reviews
website established by A Place for Mom, the
nation's largest senior living referral service, as
a way for seniors and their families to share'
feedback on senior living communities and
services.
Now in its second year, the
SeniorAdvisor.com awards recognize senior
living and home care providers that receive con
sistently high ratings from their online review
ers.
To qualify for an award, winners must have
an average overall rating of at least 4.5 stars and
a minimum number of reviews. Less than 1 per
cent of providers nationwide received the
award.
Holiday operates more than 300 retirement
communities, making it one of the largest senior
living providers in the United States.
Leam about MAKOplasty
Novant Health Kernersville Medical Center
is now offering MAKOplasty, a robotic-arm
assisted partial knee resurfacing procedure, to
its lineup of orthopedic services.
MAKOplasty is designed to relieve the pain
caused by joint degeneration due to osteoarthri
tis. The procedure targets and resurfaces only
the diseased part of the knee, sparing the
healthy bone and ligaments surrounding it.
A public session on MAKOplasty is sched
uled for Wednesday, Feb. 4, at 5:30 p.m. at
Novant Health Orthopedics & Sports Medicine,
Robinhood Medical Plaza, Building 200* off
Robinhood Road.
Good candidates for MAKOplasty typically
have one or more of these symptoms:
? Knee pain with activity, usually on the
inner knee and/or under the kneecap.
? Start-up knee pain or stiffness when activ
ities are initiated from a sitting position.
? Failure to respond to non-surgical treat
ments or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory med
ication.
Dr. William G. Ward, physician leader of
the musculoskeletal service line for Novant
Health's greater Winston-Salem market, will be !
the first orthopedic surgeon to perform
MAKOplasty at Novant Health Kernersville
Medical Center.
For more information about MAKOplasty,
go to NovantHealth.org/KneePain, or call 336
718-7950.
Burr pushes savors' bill
U.S. Senator Richard Burr (R-N.C), Senate
Health Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander
(R-Tenn.), ranking member U.S. Sen. Patty
Murray (D-Wash.) and Sen. Bemie Sanders (I
Vt.) introduced Older Americans Act
Reauthorization Act
of 20IS, legislation
that supports sdcial
and nutrition services
? from Meals on
Wheels to senior cen
ters? for nearly 12
million seniors.
In addition to
providing grants to
states for senior
social and nutrition
services, the reautho
rization also aims to
protect vulnerable
elders from abuse by increasing existing abuse
screening and prevention efforts. This includes
programs to ensure that all residents of a long
term care facility have access to an ombuds
man.
The reauthorization streamlines federal
level administration of programs, promotes
effective use of transportation services and
improves coordination between programs at the
federal, state, and local levels.
The reauthorization also adjusts the formu
la that allots state grants to account for geo
graphic changes in the older population.
"The Older Americans Act is an important
law for many of our seniors, particularly our
most vulnerable," Burr said. "I'm pleased that
my colleagues and 1 are moving forward today
to reauthorize this law and to ensure that the
services it provides reach those who most need
it. As more and more senior citizens choose to
make North Carolina their home, it's vital that
funding for programs like Meals on Wheels
reflects where seniors are moving."
Alexander said: "This bill also strengthens
the program to help ensure quality of care in
nursing homes ? giving peace of mind to resi
dents and their families ."
jThe Older Americans Act has been due for
fe^jhorization since 2011.
? *
Bifrr
Goodwill stores offering
ObamaCare sign-up help
CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT
Segmented Marketing Services Inc. (SMSi) and Urban Call Marketing Partners, two
minority-owned companies, have partnered with Goodwill Industries of Northwest North
Carolina Inc. to support the community effort to help people sign up for affordable health
insurance.
The Goodwill Retail Stores at 2701 University Parkway, 514 Waughtown St. and
2760 Peters Creek Parkway will host Affordable Care Act (ACA) enrollment agents
onsite Thursday through Saturday from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. and Sunday 2-6 p.m.
through .^nnHav
p.. ?"?/I
Feb. 15.
"We are
delighted to partner
with Goodwill for^.
the second year on
our Affordable
Care Act outreach
initiative. At each
enrollment center,
qualified agents
will be able to
enroll residents,
help them deter
mine if they qualify
for a subsidy and
which insurance
plan best fits their
needs," said Sandra
Miller Jones,
founder and presi
dent of SMSi.
The enrollment centers are part of a statewide community outreach initiative spear
headed by SMSi and Urban Call Marketing Partners and in conjunction with Blue Cross
and Blue Shield of North Carolina. Local community ambassadors across the state have
partnered with more than 200 community leaders representing churches and civic organ
izations to host over 300 community enrollment events. Also, consumers have access to
the customized website, www.SMSiUrbanCallHealth.com to find information about
affordable health insurance.
"This is the second year we have partnered with SMSi to host enrollment centers for
the Affordable Care Act," said Jaymie Eichorn, Goodwill vice president of Marketing and
Communications. "We appreciate the opportunity to make this resource available to our
customers at three of our locations in Forsyth County."
Also, as part of the initiative, SMSi Partners developed and launched a comprehensive
marketing campaign - including a customized Urban Call print and digital edition - to
reach consumers.
"The customized Urban Call publication themed "Healthy Living Every Day!" reach
es up to 50,000 households and covers topics ranging from the importance of an active
lifestyle, Affordable Care Act timeline, resources directories and glossary terms," said.
Lafayette Jones, president of SMSi-Urban Call Marketing and publisher of Urban Call.
Last year, SMSi and Urban Call Marketing Partners launched its affordable health
care community outreach efforts and were responsible for 3,000 sign-ups. Anyone inter
ested can either make an appointment by calling 866-341-5283 or droping by any of the
participating Goodwill stores.
Emergency response training offered
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
The Winston
Salem/Forsyth County
Office of Emergency
Management and Winston
Salem Fire Department are
offering a three-day basic
training course for commu
nity emergency response
teams Feb. 27 through
March 1.
CERT members are
trained to take care of them
selves and help others in
their communities for the
first three days following a
disaster.
Training will be held
from 8 a.m. through 5 p.m.
at Fire Station 7 at 100
.
Arbor Road. Topics will
include disaster prepared
Ready Forsyth Photo
ness, fire safety, medical
operations, light search and
rescue, disaster psychology,
and terrorism & CERT. The
training is free. Student
materials will be provided.
Participants who com
plete the course will be
invited, but not required, to
join a CERT.
Participation will be lim
ited to the first 25 qualified
registrants. Forsyth County
residents will have first pri
ority and should apply by
Feb. 9. Non-county residents
will be put on a waiting list
and seated after Feb. 9 as
space allows.
A registration form and
more information is avail
able at ReadyForsyth.org, or
call CityLink 311.
More than
450,000 in N.C.
sign up for
CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT
According to federal officials,
nearly 7.2 million consumers selected
a plan or were automatically re
enrolled in the Federally Facilitated
Marketplace as of Jan. 16, including
458,676 in North Carolina.
"With just four weeks before the
Feb. 15 deadline and the end of Open
Enrollment, 458,676 North Carolina
consumers are counting on the
Marketplace for affordable health
coverage," HHS Secretary Sylvia
M. Burwell said. "Just before the
deadline for Feb. 1 coverage, approx
imately 434,503 people in North
Carolina selected a plan that worked
for their family. Time is running out.
If you don't have health coverage,
visit HealthCaie.gov or contact the
Marketplace call center to learn about
your options and the financial help
that is available."
The following are some of the
facts about enrollment in North
Carolina:
? In the first month of Open
Enrollment, 92 percent of North
Carolina consumers who selected
health insurance plans were deter
mined eligible for financial assistance
to lower their monthly premiums.
? In North Carolina, consumers
can choose from 3 issuers in the
Marketplace in 2015 - up from 2 in
2014.
? North Carolina consumers can
choose from an average of 26 health
plans in their county for 2015 cover
age - up from 18 in 2014.
? 85 percent of North Carolina
Marketplace enrollees as of
See ACA on All
Report calls for global water standard
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
A new study conducted jointly by
The Water Institute at the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the
; London School of Hygiene & Tropical
Medicine calls for a new global stan
dard for improvements in household
drinking water and sanitation access.
The study highlights that current
benchmarks for access, established by
the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring
Programme for Water Supply and
Sanitation (JMP), treat water and sani
tation differently, masking deficits in
household water access. The JMP will
soon set new targets for global progress
in the Sustainable Development Goals,
and the study's results could signifi
cantly influence their development.
In the 1990s, the JMP set separate
benchmarks to measure progress
toward the United Nations' targets on
water and sanitation between 1990 and
2015. A source of drinking water quali
fied as "improved" if it were provided
at the community level, whereas sanita
tion had to be available at the household
level to qualify as "improved." Global
figures biased on these standards sug
gested nearly three times mote people
lack access to improved sanitation than
to improved drinking water sources.
The research team recalculated the
progress for water and sanitation using
matching benchmarks for both. The
results showed that, with equal bench
marks, progress ih sanitation outpaced
water between 1990 and 2015; there
fore, if Sustainable Measurement Goals
measure progress at the household level
*
where benefits are greatest, it will
become clear that water and sanitation
both need priority attention.
"Our findings have significant impli
cations for how we measure progress
toward universal access," said Jamie
M
Bartram, the Don and Jennifer
Holzworth Distinguished Professor of
environmental sciences and engineering
at the UNC Gillings School of Global
Public Health and director of the Water
Institute.
'One S*tc/u
Sve*U?t^'
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Martha Baaaatt Chria MurraH Tha Phaaa Band
Friday, Feb. 13,6:30 p.m.
G.I.D.E Youth Education Academy Fundraiser
Village km & Event Center ? Crystal BaHroom
Gammons
Omar, 3 Bands, Spotan Word Door Pnzes 4 a $50 tax deduction
Admission $100 par axfto
K?TiatET&: J3M0MXK
336-254-1116
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