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Federal Officials See How Primary and Prevention Health Services are Provided to Diverse Asian and Latino Communities in East Hollywood

LOS ANGELES — Several federal government officials including Tom Lorentzen, regional director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Charlotte Yeh, M.D., regional administrator of the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and Melissa Johnson, the Executive Director of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness visited Asian Pacific Health Care Venture, Inc. (APHCV) in east Hollywood on Monday August 27th.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have launched a nationwide campaign “A Healthier US Starts Here” using a 75-foot-long Medicare bus that will visit each of the 48 continental states over the course of this spring and summer. The tour includes spokespersons who work with community partners, city and State leaders, and disease prevention advocates involved in these initiatives to raise awareness of the availability of preventive benefits through Medicare. These services include flu shots, cardiovascular screenings, colorectal cancer screenings, colonoscopies, bone mass measurement to detect osteoporosis, mammograms, prostate cancer screening, and diabetes screening. Dr. Charlotte Yeh shared that “the incidence rate of diabetes among Asians and Pacific Islanders is increasing the fastest among all groups.” Early screenings and interventions can help seniors prolong an active, quality of life. “We are so happy to see that APHCV is a resource that provides many of these Medicare covered services such as bone density screening and treatment service for their patients, particularly for elderly women, as many of their patients are higher risks for osteoporosis,” Dr. Yeh applauded. Additional information about preventive screenings available through Medicare can be found at www.mymedicare.gov.

Kazue Shibata, APHCV CEO, Melissa Johnson, Executive Director of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Dr. Charlotte Yeh, regional administrator of the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services promote Medicare’s preventive health services during the “A Healthier US Starts Here” bus tour.

As the federal officials toured around APHCV, they witnessed the diverse Asian ethnic communities served. “We provide not only medical services, but physical activities such as Yoga, dance and Tai-Chi classes to our patients and people in the communities.” Kazue Shibata, CEO of APHCV said. “Many people do begin to change their eating habits and become more physically active if only they are given the opportunity and in fact feel better by doing it. Our work is to help them to experience that here.” “We are excited to see that APHCV is providing these vital health services including activities to promote healthier life style, which are challenging for many low-income communities,” Melissa Johnson said pointing out various physical activity classes that APHCV offers. Throughout the spring and summer, CMS is working with various health organizations at health events and community forums to provide information on preventive services and learn about the services they may be eligible to receive to manage their healthcare.

Asian Pacific Health Care Venture, Inc. located in Hollywood and serving the greater Los Angeles area, is a Federally Qualified Health Center that provides culturally competent health education and primary care services to more than 9,800 patients annually, 75% of whom are uninsured. APHCV provides its health education and health care services in nine Asian languages (Thai, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Khmer, Japanese, Bengali, Mandarin, Cantonese, and Indonesian), English and Spanish. For more information, visit www.aphcv.org.