Version 3 03/15/2012
The 5 KEY POINTS are extra large.
The 30-Second Pitch is in large type.
The 5-Minute Pitch is in normal sized type.
The 30-Second Pitch is in large type.
The 5-Minute Pitch is in normal sized type.
Investors, economic development, Piedmont city and county officials, social justice organizations,
foundations, public health, social services, hospitals, clinics, church and faith-based organizations
foundations, public health, social services, hospitals, clinics, church and faith-based organizations
[What’s the problem?]
The Montagnard community is a sick population that is becoming sicker. (1) This unique population of ten thousand refugees who access the Piedmont’s health providers (2) wants good health but waste millions of dollars trying, because the majority face impossible barriers due to poverty, a weak economy, and language and cultural differences. Triad health providers and systems have delivered undistinguished results with under-reported stories that are alarming and tragic (3). Refugees are trapped. Women and mothers are especially vulnerable(4). Without reliable transportation, they can’t keep appointments nor can they, without full language comprehension(5), call 911, follow treatment plans(6), or pay medical bills (7). As a result, refugees avoid going to the doctor’s office (8), going only when their illnesses are far advanced, going only after the severity of an individual’s illness has damaged the entire family’s future(9). Refugees are more likely to start small businesses(10) that could stir a lackluster Triad economy. But sick people cannot help their families climb out of poverty. They cannot invest dollars when health bills drain a family’s savings.
The Montagnard community is a sick population that is becoming sicker. (1) This unique population of ten thousand refugees who access the Piedmont’s health providers (2) wants good health but waste millions of dollars trying, because the majority face impossible barriers due to poverty, a weak economy, and language and cultural differences. Triad health providers and systems have delivered undistinguished results with under-reported stories that are alarming and tragic (3). Refugees are trapped. Women and mothers are especially vulnerable(4). Without reliable transportation, they can’t keep appointments nor can they, without full language comprehension(5), call 911, follow treatment plans(6), or pay medical bills (7). As a result, refugees avoid going to the doctor’s office (8), going only when their illnesses are far advanced, going only after the severity of an individual’s illness has damaged the entire family’s future(9). Refugees are more likely to start small businesses(10) that could stir a lackluster Triad economy. But sick people cannot help their families climb out of poverty. They cannot invest dollars when health bills drain a family’s savings.
[Why care?]
We have the extraordinary opportunity to help a large Piedmont community become self-sufficient, while driving down health costs and improving patient outcomes. We believe good community health is not a dream. It is achievable. We regularly hear that refugees in America must fend for themselves.(11) We know obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure and other problems are present in refugee populations like the Montagnards (12) — problems that could be headed off by proper education and preventive care.
We have the extraordinary opportunity to help a large Piedmont community become self-sufficient, while driving down health costs and improving patient outcomes. We believe good community health is not a dream. It is achievable. We regularly hear that refugees in America must fend for themselves.(11) We know obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure and other problems are present in refugee populations like the Montagnards (12) — problems that could be headed off by proper education and preventive care.
[Why is a Montagnard Health Center a better solution than existing ones?]
The creation of a Montagnard Health Center would significantly remove cultural and language barriers that prevent effective communication about health education and preventive care. (13) Uniting Montagnard health professionals and newly identified former physicians under the supervision of a US doctor would concentrate the community’s existing expertise and resources and efficiently disseminate health resources. Suddenly, we would have reliable doctor-patient communication — 100% comprehension — and save health dollars by navigating patients to the right place at the right time to the right provider.(17) A Montagnard Health Center would provide genuine cross-cultural healthcare. We would have timely transfer of research findings into practice by continuously strengthening and developing current and future partnerships with universities and local health departments/agencies.
The creation of a Montagnard Health Center would significantly remove cultural and language barriers that prevent effective communication about health education and preventive care. (13) Uniting Montagnard health professionals and newly identified former physicians under the supervision of a US doctor would concentrate the community’s existing expertise and resources and efficiently disseminate health resources. Suddenly, we would have reliable doctor-patient communication — 100% comprehension — and save health dollars by navigating patients to the right place at the right time to the right provider.(17) A Montagnard Health Center would provide genuine cross-cultural healthcare. We would have timely transfer of research findings into practice by continuously strengthening and developing current and future partnerships with universities and local health departments/agencies.
A Montagnard Health Center would outperform the current system because it would have a culturally competent staff, it would empower the community to help itself, and it would lower costs and boost preventive care. It promises long term behavioral changes(18) that place the community on a solid pathway to good health, something the current system cannot even begin to imagine how to do. After 25 years of trying, local agencies have not shown a program that works across a population that speaks 7-8 languages, identifies itself by 5 major tribes and divides itself into numerous churches and political loyalties.(19) But Montagnard women acting as community health workers have reached their neighbors and kinsmen(20); they alone can instill transformational change on a large scale because they alone can access every household(21).
[Do we have a skilled team?]
While most US and local experts perceive Montagnards as poor, illiterate farmers or aging guerilla fighters, we identified eight very well-trained former physicians eager to help. This is a primary care physician-to-population ratio close to Piedmont numbers(22). When asked, Montagnard doctors responded enthusiastically to the idea of a health center. “That is my dream!” “Yes! Most of the Montagnard physicians have a passion to help!” were some of the answers(23). Additionally, we have identified second generation, US-trained nurses and a pharmacist. Finally, we demonstrated the cost effectiveness of retraining a former village health worker and the training up of a new community health worker who together, have gone door-to-door, reached impossibly hard-to-reach families(24), delivered help and averted medical tragedies(25).
While most US and local experts perceive Montagnards as poor, illiterate farmers or aging guerilla fighters, we identified eight very well-trained former physicians eager to help. This is a primary care physician-to-population ratio close to Piedmont numbers(22). When asked, Montagnard doctors responded enthusiastically to the idea of a health center. “That is my dream!” “Yes! Most of the Montagnard physicians have a passion to help!” were some of the answers(23). Additionally, we have identified second generation, US-trained nurses and a pharmacist. Finally, we demonstrated the cost effectiveness of retraining a former village health worker and the training up of a new community health worker who together, have gone door-to-door, reached impossibly hard-to-reach families(24), delivered help and averted medical tragedies(25).
The time for US investors and backers to say, “Let’s go!” is now. The Montagnard community is ready to contribute time, talent and expertise. Let’s do this — let’s work together and make the Montagnard Health Center a reality.
Footnotes
(to come)
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