From USA TODAY:
…HIV is tightly entwined with poverty. Southern counties that have the greatest rates of HIV infection are among the poorest in the nation, USA TODAY’s analysis shows. Elsewhere in the USA, counties with the highest rates of HIV-infected people had, on average, one in seven people living in poverty, earning roughly $22,350 for a family of four. In the South’s most HIV-stricken counties, about one of every five people live below the federal poverty line.
Jonathan Mermin, director of HIV/AIDS prevention at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says the agency’s research supports the link between HIV and poverty. “People with household incomes of less than $10,000 a year were 10 times more likely to have HIV than people whose household incomes are greater than $50,000.”…
“If we don’t get a handle on where the epidemic is growing fastest we’re going to have an explosion,” says Patrick Packer, executive director of the Southern AIDS Coalition and CEO of AIDS Alabama in Birmingham…
Click here to read the full article.
EDITOR: With between 5,000 and 10,000 heroin addicts in Lancaster County (according to the Drug and Alcohol Commission), there is fertile ground for the spread of HIV / AIDS throughout the general population through paid and consensual sex. LGH would rather treat HIV sufferers, despite the fact the hospital is inadequately reimbursed through Medicaid, than to help prevent the spread via a syringe exchange. LGH has turnred its back on its mission and lost sight that it is a public charity. (See below.) Perhaps it is time to put public health doctors in charge rather than Alexander Henderson, an attorney, as chair and business school graduates Tom Beeman and Jan Bergen as top executives.
“At Lancaster General Health, we’re working to improve the health and well-being of our communities we serve by identifying and addressing community health priorities.” Really?
Professional biographies of Lancaster General Health’s Executive Leadership
Thomas E. Beeman Ph.D.
President & Chief Executive Officer, Lancaster General Health, President, Lancaster General Hospital
Mr. Beeman holds more than 34 years of experience in the healthcare field and is responsible for the leadership of the Lancaster General Health system. Prior to joining Lancaster General Health, he served at Saint Thomas Health Services as its President and Chief Executive Officer, and the Senior Vice President for Hospital Operations and Executive Director of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He is a fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, a Fellow of the American College of Health Care Executives and a member of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States. He is also a Captain in the United States Navy Reserve. He hold his PhD from Vanderbilt University where he has taught System Theory. He holds a master’s degree in Hospital Administration from Widener University, a master’s degree in Health Education and a bachelor’s degree in Community Health Studies from St. Joseph’s University. His most recent book, Leading From Within was published in 2005 by Providence Publishing.
Jan L. Bergen
Executive Vice President, Chief Mission Officer, Lancaster General Health
Mrs. Bergen is responsible for establishing and executing the health system’s strategic imperatives and holds administrative responsibilities for: strategic and business planning; business development, including marketing and sales and public relations, facility and clinical program development, external relations, physician relations and physician partnerships. As Chief Mission Officer, she is responsible for assuring that the services delivered by Lancaster General Health are consistent with the organization’s mission and are accessible to all people in the communities we serve. Before joining Lancaster General Hospital in 2000, Mrs. Bergen served as Senior Vice President for Jefferson Health System’s Bryn Mawr Hospital, a 400-bed acute care facility in Bryn Mawr, Pa. Mrs. Bergen also served as President and CEO of Main Line Health System’s Bryn Mawr Rehabilitation Hospital, a 200-bed freestanding rehabilitation facility in Paoli, Pa. Mrs. Bergen possesses more than 25 years of healthcare experience including management of hospitals, ambulatory centers and rehabilitation centers. Mrs. Bergen holds a bachelor’s degree in social work from Lafayette College and has completed graduate course work in business administration and social work.
