Greetings.
As Director of the new Huron Hospital Center for Minority Health (CMH), I have the distinct honor to present this first Center for Minority Health Directors Report. Today, I want to introduce myself to you and highlight the purpose of and goals of our Huron CMH and also delineate briefly some of the services that will be provided through our center.

The mission of the CMH is to eliminate health disparities and improve minority and medically underserved health outcomes in our primary service area through access to care, community outreach services and measurable evidence based intervention in research, education and disease prevention.

The CMH will address and find solutions to the healthcare disparities that disproportionately afflict minority populations. Healthcare disparities refer to the situation whereby minority and underserved populations experiences higher rates of certain diseases and poorer outcomes of treatment and survival compared to the majority Caucasian population. African Americans, for example, have on average from birth an 8-year shorter life expectancy compared to their Caucasian counterparts. Healthcare disparities are pervasive throughout all specialties of medicine from infant mortality, cancer, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, kidney disease, and deficiencies in elder care. There are a variety of factors contributing to these healthcare disparities from lack of access to healthcare experienced by minority patients to lack of cultural competency of health providers, lack of health literacy (education) of patients, to biologic/ genetic causes of diseases. The CMH will address the health disparities afflicting minority and underserved populations with the goal to eliminate systematically many of the causes for these disparities. Partnerships between the CMH and each department within Huron Hospital as well as community organizations will enable us to address these health disparities.

Huron Hospital offers a charity assistance program, which will enable patients an opportunity to be seen and treated within the CMH regardless of their insurance status. The CMH will also engage the community via a comprehensive community outreach program. I, along with CMH community outreach workers and health educators will be present in the community on a daily basis to raise awareness of important health information to promote wellness and improve healthcare access of patients. A series of community outreach healthfairs and health educational summits have already been initiated which are providing valuable health screenings necessary to detect potentially life threatening medical conditions in early treatable stages.

It is with a great deal of excitement and enthusiasm that I now announce a very special component of the new Center for Minority Health—the second location for the Glickman Urological Institute’s Minority Men’s Health Center (MMHC). The MMHC has been operational at the Main Campus of the Cleveland Clinic since 2003 and serves to address the special healthcare needs of minority men, i.e. the detection and treatment of prostate cancer, higher rates of high blood pressure and diabetes and kidney disease. Since the inception of the MMHC, several hundreds of minority men have been served regardless of their insurance status and many cases of prostate cancer, hypertension and diabetes have been diagnosed and treated. Of special consideration is the reality that many of these men were it not for the MMHC would have been undiagnosed and consequently gone untreated for their prostate cancer and other conditions. I am thrilled that the expertise of the Glickman Urological Institute, which is nationally ranked among the top 2 urology programs in the nation, will now expand its’ services to offer care to patients also at Huron Hospital and the Severance Medical Arts Building locations. MMHC.

I look forward to keeping you informed regarding the activities and goals of the Center for Minority Health. Future Directors reports will also highlight many of the community outreach and health education coordinators.

Lastly, let me end with a quote from the great Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter”. Well, in my opinion, the eradication of healthcare disparities matters, and I can assure you that I am committed to do whatever I can to assist in the eradication of these health disparities which are ravaging our communities. Moreover, I am thrilled that the staff and administration of Huron Hospital and the Cleveland Clinic join me in my passion and commitment to ending health disparities.

Sincerely,
Charles Modlin, MD
Director, Minority Men’s Health Center/ Center for Minority Health