Nursing community service program receives recognition

Nurses who work helping Philadelphia residents don't do their jobs to get national attention. National attention, however, has come to them. The Health Annex, the Nursing School's community-based practice, received the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Health Resources and Services Administration Community Service Excellence Award. In a ceremony in the Public Ledger Building downtown on Monday afternoon, HRSA Director Claude Earl Fox presented the plaque to Penn's Health Annex, as well as to three other area institutions -- La Salle Neighborhood Nursing Center, MCP-Hahnemann Health Center and Temple Health Connection. The award was given "in recognition of the outstanding service and dedication to promoting nursing educational opportunities and providing exceptional primary health care service to the community," and the plaque praises the Annex as "a multigenerational family primary care network." The Health Annex at the Francis J. Myers Recreation Center, a collaboration between the Nursing School and the Philadelphia Department of Recreation, is a nurse-run facility that integrates physical and mental health care for the community. In its fifth year of operation, the Annex provided integrated primary care to some 2,650 clients in more than 11,000 visits. The center caters primarily to low- and middle-class residents, some of whom are jobless or lack health insurance. In addition, the Annex performs outreach to provide services such as physical examinations, nutritional counseling and immunizations in places such as churches and schools. "The Annex not only provides care in the center, but in the neighborhood as well, wherever people live, learn and play," said Lois Evans, director of Academic Nursing Practices, which oversees the Annex. Though the Annex has been the recipient of grants from the HRSA in the past, the current award carries no monetary value; rather it is an award recognizing the Annex's importance. "The award shows that community-based health is going to be an important aspect of medicine in the 21st century," said Evans, who is also a Nursing professor. The award Monday also initiated National Primary Care Week, a week celebrating the role of primary care medicine. The Annex is directed by Nursing Professor Margaret Cotroneo and is supported by two other Nursing professors -- Freida Outlaw and Margaret Sovie. "We continue to develop partnerships with the community in order to further serve the community," Evans said.