NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Maggie Colwell
December 31, 2009 (208) 455-4773

Saltzer Medical Group donates to local homeless program

(Caldwell) – Saltzer Medical Group will present a check for $10,000 to the C.A.T.C.H. of Canyon County program on Tuesday, January 5th, 2009 at 215 E. Hawaii Avenue in Nampa. The donation will be presented to City of Caldwell Mayor Garret Nancolas at 2p.m. Members of the public are invited to celebrate this gift and hear about the success of C.A.T.C.H. in fighting homelessness amongst families in Canyon County. A portion of the gift will be used to serve families in the Boise C.A.T.C.H. program.

“We are overwhelmed by the generosity of Saltzer Medical Group and their employees and can’t thank them enough for the contribution they have made to needy families in our community,” said Mayor Nancolas. “This donation will assist us in providing rental assistance and much-needed case management, ensuring that our clients can begin supporting themselves and their families.”

“Saltzer Medical Group encourages employee involvement in charitable organizations by matching 100% any donations made by their physicians,” continued Mayor Nancolas. “Wouldn’t it be great if other businesses could implement programs like this in their own organizations? What a difference that could make to our families.”

“Saltzer Medical Group is proud to support the CATCH program. As a group we agreed that CATCH is an organization that fits the mission of Saltzer Medical Group because they not only impact individual families, but entire communities,” added Dr. Tom Patterson, chair of Saltzer’s Business Development Committee. “We encourage other businesses and individuals to support this worthwhile cause.”

C.A.T.C.H. of Canyon County was formed in July of 2009 and is based on a successful housing program created and administered by the City of Boise, in partnership with business and faith-based communities. The program, which provides housing and intensive case management to homeless families for up to six months, has had great success in helping their clients find employment, address the issues that led to the homeless episode and learn tools to achieve self-sufficiency. Government entities donate in-kind administrative support and the rental assistance and case management is funding by private business donations, grants and financial support from churches around the valley. The Canyon County program is currently serving thirteen families, with a total of 46 men, women and children. Those interested in learning more about C.A.T.C.H. can contact Christy Thomas, Program Coordinator, at 455-7138.

John Kaiser, MD; Bill Savage, CEO Saltzer Medical Group; Tom Dale, Nampa Mayor; Garrett Nancolas, Caldwell Mayor; Tom Patterson, MD, Harold Kunz, MD.

Media Note: Those that contributed are listed below:

Harold Kunz, MD
Bill England, MD
Ryan Owsley, MD
John Freeman, MD
Tom Patterson, MD
Howard Shoemaker, MD
Randell Page, DO
Stanley Stringam, MD
John Hlavinka, MD
Mark Rasmus, MD

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Vaccine preventable disease rates are at all time lows due to diligent research, effective immunization systems, and outreach. This success has come from a collaboration of private and public sectors. Nonetheless, there are still barriers to optimizing immunization protection from vaccine preventable diseases. Prior to modern day immunizations, many diseases impacted countless numbers of children with disability and, unfortunately, mortality. In recent decades, there have been advances in vaccines broadening the protection net for children and adults. As vaccine preventable illnesses diminish, such as polio, measles, pertussis and even now haemophilus, pneumococcus, rotavirus and varicella, the public loses valuable memory of the devastation of these diseases. Yet outside of the United States one million deaths occur annually from measles alone. Complacency sets in from a lack of knowledge of natural diseases and fears of adverse events, including autism, further add to the barriers to protecting our children and adults. Idaho continues to struggle to obtain higher immunization coverage rates.
The Idaho Immunization Program, funded jointly by the State of Idaho and the Centers for Disease Control, has grown in the past decade improving our rates considerably. The Idaho Immunization Program hosted an Immunization Summit in the fall of 2007 inviting public and private health sectors to formulate the problems facing our State and potential solutions. The group discussed the successes of the Canyon Area Immunization Coalition and proposed a Statewide Coalition. Idaho is the only state in the Nation without a widespread or statewide Immunization Coalition.

This brings us to May of 2008. The AAP Idaho Chapter held an Immunization Congress, funded by a grant from AAP National. The congress succeeded in bringing public and private sectors together to launch what is now the Idaho Immunization Coalition. The coalition is a 501 c3 non profit organization to enhance the existing immunization system in Idaho. The goal is to protect adults and children from vaccine preventable disease in an efficient, safe and enlightened manner and to maintain the statewide immunization registry. The Coalition will have an Executive Committee with Keith Davis, MD, President of the Idaho Academy of Family Physicians and Tom Patterson, MD, President Elect of the Idaho American Academy of Pediatrics as co-chairmen. Subcommittees consisting of Education, Legislation and Vaccine Outreach will address specific issues. The state Immunization Program, the AAP, and AAFP Idaho Chapters are all on board to see the coalition to fruition. We have succeeded in many ways, though there is much work to be done to reach our goal of maximum immunization coverage in all populations.