|
Dedicated Single Mother Receives $120,000 Award For Providing Access To Health Care For D.C.’S Most Vulnerable Residents
Boston – In 1978, Sharon Baskerville was a poor single mother of three boys on welfare when she walked into a D.C. neighborhood clinic seeking care for her family. Staff members there were so impressed with her intelligence and passion for social justice that within six months they offered her a job. She worked at the clinic for years, responsible for its mission and operations and in 1995 was made its executive director. Three years later, she was offered the challenge of leading the newly chartered District of Columbia Primary Care Association (DCPCA).
"When DCPCA’s board offered her the job of executive director, Sharon told them that while she had no formal education beyond high school, she knew everything there was to know about delivering good health care to the uninsured,” said Katherine Freshly, Senior Program Officer at the Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation, a DCPCA funder. “As a result of her tenacity and political acumen, D.C. now has the most progressive health coverage system in the country.”
As part of her campaign to provide everyone in D.C. with access to primary care, Baskerville asked RAND Corporation to conduct research and learned that half of D.C.’s residents live in neighborhoods with no direct access to medical care. As a result, she championed a $145 million Medical Homes D.C. Initiative to bring primary and specialty care facilities and qualified doctors into those neighborhoods. The city has committed $21 million over three years to the program, but DCPCA must raise $7.5 million to match it—a goal Baskerville is confident will be reached. In addition, the city will invest five million over the next two years to convert the safety net health centers she represents to electronic medical records.
It is for her work with DCPCA that she is being honored as one of 10 outstanding individuals from across America chosen to receive the 2006 Robert Wood Johnson Community Health Leadership Program award.
D.C. leads the nation in HIV/AIDS, and in some parts of the city 30 to 50 percent of the population suffers from heart disease, asthma, and diabetes, all conditions that benefit from better access to primary care services.
An example of Baskerville’s effectiveness is a set of actions she took when a vital health care expansion bill related to HIV/AIDS was in jeopardy. She had worked for years to expand Medicaid to low-income people diagnosed with HIV, but on the eve of the bill’s success, lobbyists caused the vote to go the wrong way. Unwilling to concede defeat, Baskerville penned a message with the heading “Today You Perpetrated an Injustice” and sent it to each policymaker involved in the vote. It got their attention. After talking with her, they took the unusual step of reversing their decision.
“Last summer’s devastating hurricanes brought into focus for all Americans the gaping holes in this country’s safety net,” said Catherine Dunham, Ed.D., Program Director, Robert Wood Johnson Community Health Leadership Program. “It reinforced what we know to be true; that local leaders taking the initiative are really the first and best responders whether the issue is access to care or youth development in underserved areas.”
The program awards $1.2 million each year to health leaders who have surmounted personal and other obstacles to help Americans gain access to heath care and social services. Baskerville and this year’s other winners were honored at a June 21 event at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Princeton, New Jersey. She will receive $105,000 to further the work of her program and a $15,000 personal award.
Baskerville was chosen from more than 300 people nominated this year. Since 1992, the program has distributed 140 awards in 47 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico. Those chosen are nominated by civic leaders, health professionals, government representatives and others inspired by their efforts to provide essential health services to their communities. This year’s award winners represent urban and rural areas of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, and the District of Columbia.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country. As the nation’s largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving the health and health care of all Americans, the Foundation works with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, meaningful and timely change. For more than 30 years the Foundation has brought experience, commitment, and a rigorous, balanced approach to the problems that affect the health and health care of those it serves. When it comes to helping Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need, the Foundation expects to make a difference in your lifetime. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org.
### |
