CT Health Newsletters
University of Connecticut Health Center
Connecticut Health Signature Program Newsletter
Issue Two – Summer 2002
www.connecticuthealth.org
PROGRAM OF THE MONTH:
Connecticut Poison Control Center
Marc Bayer, M.D., Mary McCormick, Pharm.D., & Charles McKay, M.D.
Staffed 24-hours-a-day by experts in toxicology and poison
information, the Connecticut Poison Control Center is a free public
service of the University of Connecticut Health Center. The new hotline
number for poison control centers nationwide is 1-800-222-1222. By
dialing that number, callers will be connected with the nearest poison
control center. Specially trained poison information specialists staff
all centers and a board-certified toxicologist is always on-call.
In addition to responding to thousands of calls from the general
public, the center’s staff also provides information to medical
professionals on poison exposures, treatment, outcome data, and
follow-up. With access to the most current information for the
evaluation and treatment of poisonings, the center also serves as a
clinical training facility to nurses, emergency department residents,
and pharmacy students.
Most recently a community educator has been added to the staff to
help the public learn more about poisons and poison hazards and to build
relationships with community organizations and businesses. The community
educator will work to promote the poison center and the new national
hotline at various presentations and health fairs in the community and
provide informational brochures on poison prevention, emergency action
and plant information, and emergency number stickers.
For more information about the Connecticut Poison Control Center,
call the education line at 679-3531.
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Connecticut Health projects take place in virtually all 169
Connecticut towns and meet a wide range of community and public health
needs.
Contact Corey A. Hemmerich at
hemmerich@adp.uchc.edu or (860) 679-3236 for more information.
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Faculty Gain Representative Voice
Under the auspices of the Connecticut Health Signature Program, the
Legislative Liaison Committee builds relationships between faculty and
the Connecticut General Assembly. Formed to address the lack of a
representative faculty role, the Legislative Liaison Committee (LLC)
aims to involve faculty in developing well crafted health legislation.
The Committee has already successfully engaged with legislators in
providing assistance in the development of a number of bills that
surfaced during the 2002 Session of the General Assembly.
The Legislative Liaison Committee is currently planning its efforts
to help shape the quality of health and health policy legislation that
is likely to re-emerge in the next session of the Assembly. The process
of proactively identifying issues significant to UConn Health Center faculty and staff
will be addressed as a part of the Connecticut Health Seminar Series
half-day conference on July 1, 2002. To receive an invitation to this
event, please contact Corey Conlon at (860) 679-3236.
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Connecticut Health General Information
Connecticut Health facilitates and promotes public health and public
sector service to the State of Connecticut. The Connecticut Health
Project Database serves as a central source of information regarding
the UConn Health Center’s community and public health programs. Working with governmental
and community-based organizations, it seeks out opportunities for UConn Health Center
faculty and staff to collaborate on new initiatives, and it consults on
the development of new projects that are initiated from within the
Health Center.
Connecticut Health represents for the University of Connecticut
Health Center a new and permanent emphasis on community and public
health. It embodies the contribution of the Health Center to the health
of the citizens of the entire state. From Connecticut Health will come
an expanded range of programs that augment the Health Center’s
traditional mission in education, research, and high quality medicine
and fulfill its obligation as a publicly funded institution.
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Highlights – Did you know . . . ?
Connecticut Health has currently identified 220 projects that provide
community and public health services.
The UConn Health Center offers free support groups for nearly two dozen different
conditions. Check it out at
www.connecticuthealth.org by searching under Keyword "support
groups".
The network of UConn Health Center services extends far beyond the Farmington
Valley. Search various towns and counties for UConn Health Center activity at
www.connecticuthealth.org.
More than 80% of breast cancer cases occur in women over age 50.
Browse more information on cancer and other aging concerns at
www.connecticuthealth.org.
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What is Connecticut Health Anyway?
The University of Connecticut Health Center is placing increasing
emphasis on its community-based and public health programs. In 2000, the
health center developed four new strategic initiatives as, one of which,
Connecticut Health, calls for a substantially increased collaboration
with governmental and private non-profit agencies in addressing the
community and public health needs of the state.
Connecticut Health is an umbrella under which are gathered the
hundreds of UConn Health Center projects and programs that address the health-related
needs of sister state agencies, local governmental agencies,
community-based organizations, and the citizens of Connecticut.
Connecticut Health seeks to incentivize, facilitate, and promote public
health and public sector service to the State of Connecticut. A program
falls within Connecticut Health by virtue of substantive involvement of
UConn Health Center faculty, staff, residents and students in addressing community and
public health needs. Programs range from providing all of the health and
mental health care for the state’s prison population to running small
pilot projects designed to improve the day care available to disabled
children. Programs addressing the needs of underserved populations,
providing direct care to the poor and uninsured, research projects that
address significant health problems in underserved populations, and
educational programs are of particular interest. Virtually all
Connecticut Health projects are undertaken as a collaboration with
governmental agencies or community-based partners.
Because the full extent and range of community-based programming at
the health center has never before been fully appreciated, Connecticut
Health maintains a website to serve as a central source of information
regarding the UConn Health Center's community and public health programs. Contact us if you
are interested in listing a project on the Connecticut Health website.
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“The greatest results in life are usually attained by simple means
and the exercise of ordinary qualities. These may for the most part be
summed up in these two - common sense and perseverance.”
-Owen Feltham-
Connecticut Health
University of Connecticut Health Center
263 Farmington Avenue
Farmington, CT 06030-3967
Phone: (860) 679-3236
Fax: (860) 679-1101
Email: kpasquale@nso1.uchc.edu
www.connnecticuthealth.org
END OF NEWSLETTER
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