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Post by Marc LeVine on Nov 8, 2006 18:05:30 GMT -5
Financial aid provided to health center
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO
Staff Writer
The gift of free medical care continues to accommodate uninsured area residents at the Paul M. McGuire Family Health Care Center, Throckmorton Street, Freehold Borough.
Freehold Township officials have decided to lend financial support to help keep the center going and Freehold Borough officials were poised to do the same this week.
A resolution adopted on Oct. 24 by the Township Committee in Freehold Township states that the municipality will provide the family health center with $7,500 to help cover services rendered to patients between Oct. 1, 2006 and March 30, 2007.
According to the resolution, the services are to include health supervision for infants, preschool children and their parents, including physical, emotional, nutritional and cognitive development; primary health care services, maintaining a specialist referral policy to refer appropriate cases to the primary care services provided by CentraState Medical Center, referring elevated lead levels to the nurse educator for appropriate follow-up and providing visual screenings. In addition to providing nursing services for referrals and follow-up of reportable diseases, the resolution also asks for maintaining tuberculosis screenings. The clinic should also provide physical examinations and baseline laboratory testing, as well as treat chronic illnesses as feasible within the resources at the center.
The Borough Council in Freehold Borough was expected to consider a resolution at its meeting on Nov. 6 providing the same level of financial support to the health center for the same time period.
Margaret Jahn, health officer of the Freehold Area Health Department, said the payments by both towns to the McGuire health center will replace financial support that was previously provided to another public health agency which has since closed an office in Freehold.
Jahn said municipal health departments are mandated by the state to provide a certain level of public health care service for the uninsured and indigent.
She said that since the McGuire health center was already in operation and serving the borough and the township, officials believed the best use of the resources available was to help fund that health center.
Borough Administrator Joseph Bellina said, "We are confident that the Board of Health, through the McGuire health center, will be providing thorough health services for the uninsured."
According to the Rev. Ricky Pierce, chairman of I Beseech Thee Community Development Corp., which operates the facility, he and Joyce Jenkins, the health center's program coordinator, met with representatives of the Freehold Area Board of Health recently.
Pierce said Jenkins explained the services the center has been providing since January 2005. The board is comprised of officials from Freehold Township and Freehold Borough. As a result of that meeting, township officials decided to contribute funds to the center.
The health center, which operates out of a trailer in the parking lot of the New Beginnings Agape Christian Center, Throckmorton Street, Freehold Borough, was initially open on Friday from 6-9 p.m. The clinic is now open on Thursday (instead of Friday) from 6-9 p.m. and also has hours on most Tuesdays and Wednesdays, as well as hours for specialty clinics. The hope, according to Pierce, is to continue to increase the clinic's hours of operation.
The clinic's operators said they already need more space in order to accommodate the medical needs of the patients who made more than 600 visits last year.
Jenkins said patients come from Freehold Borough, Freehold Township and Lakewood. Some patients travel a longer distance to receive the free care, medications and referrals for specific medical problems that the center offers.
Patients are cared for by a volunteer staff of more than 20 people including doctors, nurses and administrative personnel.
The only paid staff person is the new medical director, Dr. Lookman Obejobi, who visits patients at the clinic on Thursday. Obejobi is on staff at Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune.
According to Jenkins, the health center also has a pediatric clinic and a gynecological clinic.
Potential volunteers are invited to observe the operation and see if they are interested in joining the staff, Jenkins said.
The family health care center offers physicals, health maintenance, treatment of minor illnesses and health education/prevention, in addition to blood pressure, other health screenings and children's immunizations. Any individual may seek assistance at the clinic.
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Post by Libyan Sibyl on Nov 8, 2006 20:03:47 GMT -5
Isn't this the same place that gives free treatment to illegals? The borough and the township want to give it some financial support. Your tax dollars at work, folks.
Do YOU, reader, get free health care? I think not, but your government will - whether it is Geo. Bush or borough council.
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Post by Libyan Sibyl on Nov 10, 2006 15:26:55 GMT -5
just peeking in looking for any outrage here -- nope, okay, sorry to disturb you. have a nice day.
signed,
death and taxes
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Post by Marc LeVine on Nov 10, 2006 15:46:10 GMT -5
Why not send an email to FB School's Superintendent, Elizabeth O'Connell, through the web site at: www.fhboroschools.org/index.php?option=com_comprofiler&task=usersList&Itemid=51She will get it Monday morning. Follow that up by attending a meeting or two; bring others along to support your cause; and/ or present a signed petition opposing pre-K for the board to consider. Editorials are also helpful in such situations. Marc |
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Post by Libyan Sibyl on Nov 10, 2006 15:56:15 GMT -5
Dear Ms. O'Connor,
Please ask the Bd of Ed why is Marc LeVine and the rest of borough council are giving away our tax dollars to the Rev. McGuire trailer?
- John
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Post by Marc LeVine on Nov 10, 2006 16:16:16 GMT -5
Sorry the school post ended up under the wrong category.
Not all the people visiting the Paul McGuire Clinic are "illegal Mexicans" as some might assume. Of course, many are, including children. Unfortunately, there are also many other area residents, currently out of work who can not afford medical insurance that get treated there - including some 23+ year olds, whose parents are required to drop from their insurance plans. It's mixed group. I inquired about this some time ago.
Fortunately, the free care given is "volunteered" by health professionals. So, there is no financial impact on our hospitals. This is a good thing. Those able to be treated at the clinic, often avoid the expensive emergency room visits that you and I are forced to pay huge dollars to subsidize. This is what makes my blood boil, along with yours, when illegal aliens get free medical care that is NOT being volunteered, but rather is being charged back to our own wallets.
$7,500 (our portion) to treat a whole town's indigent population for a full year isn't such a bad deal, considering it may be some of our down-on-their- luck neighbors using the services provided. We never know if we will ever need this kind of help, ourselves.
The clinic will also offer health education programs that might help prevent illnesses that need to be treated, expensively. All of this health involvement is state mandated, so cost effectiveness is the deciding factor. The relatively small amount of funding, discussed, represents administrative costs and limited supplies. We certainly aren't paying for any $5000 CT scans or $20,000 surgeries - just some band aids, gauze pads and a few tetanus shots.
My 95 year old aunt became indigent after all her money (she had been a NYC teacher) ran out. This once proud woman, who had a lovely apartment in Forest Hills (NY) and who traveled the world with her late husband, met her final days at the John L. Montgomery Home, in town. She didn't get the best of care, but was fortunate there was a place she could go to when she became old, sick and penniless.
Marc
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Post by Libyan Sibyl on Nov 10, 2006 16:26:30 GMT -5
Uggh. Where is John Galt? Your answer is wrong on so many levels I do not know where to begin.
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Post by Marc LeVine on Nov 10, 2006 17:35:14 GMT -5
"Wrong" is a very subjective term. And, invoking " Where is Galt" only expresses Libertarian views, which do not represent mainstream American thinking. By the way, I DO respect the right to hold such philosophical views, but no less than I respect those of our ultra liberals, who are trying to ram illegal aliens down our throats. Respect both sets of views, yes - but I subscribe to neither doctrine. I'm more of a centrist in my beliefs, if you care to know.
The opposite of "Wrong," is "Right," which is also a subjective term unless - of course - we are discussing the solution to basic or complex math problems - which is "absolute." Neither of our views and beliefs, in most cases, might ever be considered "absolute" and rarely are they universal. This leaves room for our opinions to be equally healthy, unless they hopelessly deviant.
So, after considering all of this, I prefer to simply choose "the concept of right" over it's other more rigid definition. Such being the case, things that I will support are usually based on how my gut reacts to the concept of "doing the right thing, " rather than trying to convince some others that what they think is wrong may actually be right to others. Therefore, we can both agree to disagree, once again.
Marc
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Post by Libyan Sibyl on Nov 13, 2006 9:51:13 GMT -5
wrong: Spending taxpayer dollars on private charities. The budget is not borough council's private slush fund. While this contribution may make borough council feel like big spenders, it was never your money to spend to begin with. If you feel compelled to donate money to charities, why not do it from your own pocket? Furthermore, what is to prevent borough council from making donations to other charities? Which charities have priorities over others? This is a road that leads to favoritism.
wrong: spending taxpayer dollars on private charities that directly benefit illegal aliens. It is my understanding that no hospital may refuse treatment, and furthermore that it is illegal to question someone as to their legal status.
Most importantly, and I will let this just hang as an open question, people can infer what they want: can anyone see the connection of money going to the pet project of one of borough council's harshest critics?
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Post by Marc LeVine on Nov 13, 2006 11:41:25 GMT -5
This quote sums it all up pretty well. This center has evolved into being much more than Rev. McGuire's "pet project," and is heavily involved with two major area hospitals.
The services they can offer through the center, cost effectively replace the previous service that we were using. We do not throw money away to do anything we do not need or are required (as in this case) to do.
The people of Freehold Township are also sharing the services provided in this agreement and their own scrutiny was given to the decision, so that's - at least - two governing bodies (including a predominantly Republican one) that chose to use the McGuire Center to fulfill this state health mandate.
Marc
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Post by Libyan Sibyl on Nov 16, 2006 11:35:36 GMT -5
[quote author=Marc LeVine board=general thread=1163027130 post=1163198114....And, invoking " Where is Galt" only expresses Libertarian views, which do not represent mainstream American thinking....[/quote]
HA! John Galt, Libyan Sibyl, WYANE, and Brian (the fake) are 4 non-mainstream libertarian views (sorry if I left anyone out). Add this with the cnn poll I posted that most people think govt does too much, I think there are more libertarians out there than you think - it's just that many people hold their noses when they vote. When the republican party finally dies, I hope us classical liberals lead the way.
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Post by Freehold Resident on Nov 16, 2006 12:12:36 GMT -5
>HA! John Galt, Libyan Sibyl, WYANE, and Brian (the fake) are 4 >non-mainstream libertarian views (sorry if I left anyone out). >Add this with the cnn poll I posted that most people think govt >does too much, I think there are more libertarians out there >than you think - it's just that many people hold their noses >when they vote. When the republican party finally dies, I hope >us classical liberals lead the way.
Being a liberal myself, you're not a 'classical liberal" in any sense of the word. As far as I'm concerned, you are the most conservative people on this board. Believe what you want to believe...
F R
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Post by admin on Nov 16, 2006 15:25:42 GMT -5
>HA! John Galt, Libyan Sibyl, WYANE, and Brian (the fake) are 4 >non-mainstream libertarian views (sorry if I left anyone out). >Add this with the CNN poll I posted that most people think govt >does too much, I think there are more libertarians out there >than you think - it's just that many people hold their noses >when they vote. When the republican party finally dies, I hope >us classical liberals lead the way. Being a liberal myself, you're not a 'classical liberal" in any sense of the word. As far as I'm concerned, you are the most conservative people on this board. Believe what you want to believe... F R It is amazing how far off the topic this thread has become. Having said that , now I will chime in with my own points not related to the health center. Freehold Resident, If you have never read Libertarian publications or books, I highly recommend it. It does make for some interesting reading, even if you do not agree. And yes, Libertarians do view themselves a liberals in the true meaning of the word. The one thing I like about Libertarian views is what they have to say about both Conservatives and the liberals as we know them today. Libertarians do a fantastic job of showing how oppressive and intolerant both can be. Our reader "John Galt" has dubbed me a fake Libertarian. I take that to mean that he realizes that I do not adhere to all Libertarian views, but I do have many tendencies. Libertarians are without doubt far from main stream, but they are worth looking into for the purpose of opening our minds. I will say that my Libertarian view are prevalent enough that a very liberal co worker thought I am a liberal! She was very shocked to find out that I very rarely vote for Democrats. |
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Post by Freehold Resident on Nov 16, 2006 16:30:31 GMT -5
Brian,
I will have to check out some of what you recommended.
I believe one of my favorite political comedians is a Libertarian, but I'm not sure--Bill Maher.
The thing that I find interesting about Libertarians is how they are considered closer to Democrats, but are really Republicans.
Republicans are supposed to want less government in people's lives. Libertarians seem to agree with "live and let live," and obviously want hardly any government to interfere in the lives of its citizens.
However, the party that Libertarians are said to be closer to is Democrats. However, Democrats want more government.
It's just an interesting dichotomy.
F R
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Post by admin on Nov 16, 2006 17:19:01 GMT -5
Brian, I will have to check out some of what you recommended. I believe one of my favorite political comedians is a Libertarian, but I'm not sure--Bill Maher. The thing that I find interesting about Libertarians is how they are considered closer to Democrats, but are really Republicans. Republicans are supposed to want less government in people's lives. Libertarians seem to agree with "live and let live," and obviously want hardly any government to interfere in the lives of its citizens. However, the party that Libertarians are said to be closer to is Democrats. However, Democrats want more government. It's just an interesting dichotomy. F R FR, Check out this Libertarian Purity test. This has many questions that would get most people scratching their heads. Some questions are nuts, but they challenge conventional wisdom. Most of the time when people talk politics, they think linear, right or left. This test does not show it, but usually the Libertarian tests show political views in a circular graph. When you spoke about dichotomy and why Libertarians may seam either liberal or conservative, the circular method puts it in to a better perspective. I usually score right on the Conservative/libertarian line. Others who appear more Democrat/Liberal may wind up on the liberal/libertarian line. It is a more clear picture after evaluating personal views vs, views toward others and government roles. Like any test of this nature, it is just a fun goof. Enjoy! www.bcaplan.com/cgi-bin/purity.cgiBTW, I score an 84 |
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Post by Freehold Resident on Nov 16, 2006 18:41:22 GMT -5
I received a 46 score.
F R
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Post by admin on Nov 16, 2006 18:57:01 GMT -5
I received a 46 score. F R I would work on you to change your score, but that goes against my higher score--Live and let live! It is all good fun  And yes, some of those questiions were out there. |
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Post by Libyan Sibyl on Nov 17, 2006 9:09:20 GMT -5
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Post by Freehold Resident on Nov 17, 2006 9:19:20 GMT -5
>As to classical liberal, F R, you are a neo-liberal.
How do you figure?
F R
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Post by admin on Nov 17, 2006 16:33:17 GMT -5
Sybil, How did you get higher than me? I thought I would get you on this one!
I think Calliope and FR are a couple of radicals with scores that low! ;D
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bergsteiger
Full Member
War is simple, direct, and ruthless
Posts: 1,189
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Post by bergsteiger on Nov 17, 2006 16:45:46 GMT -5
I scored a 23. I’m not sure what to think of those questions. Things are more complicated then to boil it down to one-liners. What scares me is that I’m in the boat as FR.   |
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Post by admin on Nov 18, 2006 11:01:19 GMT -5
"21" and single! Ha ha! I agree, Bergsteiger -- often "yes" or "no" answers are so hard to judge. I found myself saying either but with conditions in mind. "yes" if, "no," if...I think y'all understand. In interviewing, the worst questions to pose are those that beg an either "Yes," "no," or "maybe." You need to ask open questions that invite opinion, etc. I make it a rule to NEVER ask a question that can be answered with a "yes" or "no." That being said, I work with individuals for features or personal profiles, I am not designing questionnaires to paint a color of a specific populace. Calliope, you bring up good points. Yes and no answers are hard to deal with at times. It is a double edged sword with a test like the one that we have taken. As I said, the questions are crazy. On one hand they should be thought provoking, but the best way to answer is just on first reaction or gut instinct. As thought provoking as it may be , thinking too much can skew the test. |
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Post by fedup on Nov 24, 2006 21:41:59 GMT -5
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