HIMSS, The SSI Group Boost New Orleans Healthcare Efforts through Common Ground Clinic Sponsorship
Mobile, Alabama, February 6, 2007 - With more than 20,000 patient visits in less than 18 months, the Common Ground Clinic has been a vital element in providing healthcare services to the New Orleans community. When the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) visits the Crescent City for its annual Conference and Exhibition Feb. 25 – March 1, The SSI Group, Inc. (SSI) will sponsor a basketball fundraising event during the exhibit to raise funds for the Clinic, which is also being sponsored by the Society.
During the conference, SSI, a healthcare electronic data interchange (EDI) company, will set up a basketball goal in its exhibit booth and will donate $1 for every basket made by attendees with a goal of raising more than $500 for the Common Ground Clinic. SSI will donate all funds raised to the Clinic through the HIMSS Foundation, the philanthropic arm of HIMSS.
HIMSS has aligned with this free clinic in the Algiers section of New Orleans to help provide needed supplies and technology during the 2007 Annual HIMSS Conference and Exhibition. The main clinic is in the Algiers neighborhood, located on the West Bank of New Orleans. The clinic also operates a Latino Outreach Health Project (LHOP) that goes out several days a week to provide services to Hispanic laborers and residents and occasional mobile clinics. The clinic also provides weekly, confidential HIV testing in partnership with the New Orleans Dept. of Health.
"We're proud to partner with HIMSS in order to raise funds for this crucial healthcare organization, which has been a primary source for healthcare services for so many New Orleans citizens," said Ray Payne, SSI's vice president of Marketing. "Through this sponsorship, SSI and all attendees are able to give something back to the 2007 HIMSS host city at a crucial time in its history."
Since opening on September 9, 2005, the Common Ground Clinic sees about 200 patients each week and has had more than 20,000 patient visits. Most of the patients do not have health insurance. The Clinic's staff has been working to make this a professional and effective primary care clinic, offering free treatment along with free supplies like vitamins, baby food, and health and hygiene goods. More information on the Clinic can be found on the Web at www.cghc.org.
About HIMSS
The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) is the healthcare industry's membership organization exclusively focused on providing global leadership for the optimal use of healthcare information technology (IT) and management systems for the betterment of healthcare. Founded in 1961 with offices in Chicago, Washington D.C., Brussels, and other locations across the United States and Europe, HIMSS represents more than 20,000 individual members and over 300 corporate members that collectively represent organizations employing millions of people. HIMSS frames and leads healthcare public policy and industry practices through its advocacy, educational and professional development initiatives designed to promote information and management systems' contributions to ensuring quality patient care. |
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