Dental Care Expanding at Esperanza

Esperanza recently welcomed dentist Dr. Thomas Therrien, DMD, who joins dentist Amy Liao, DDS, and dental hygienist Ada Yoder on Esperanza’s dental team. Dr. Therrien comes to us from the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine, where he’s spent the past 26 years as a student, teacher and clinician. Says Dr. Therrien, “I am very grateful for all the love I have been shown since I started at Esperanza.”  This fall, we’ll begin a major renovation and expansion of our dental practice located at our Kensington facility, which will double our capacity to provide dental care to those in need. Click here to learn more about dental care at Esperanza. If you’d like to make a contribution to support our dental expansion project, please click here.

Hunting Park Family Fun and Fitness Day!

On Saturday, August 4th, Esperanza participated in the 2nd annual Hunting Park Family Fun and Fitness Day, sponsored by Hunting Park United. Esperanza staff members teamed with our Community Health Promoters to conduct blood pressure screenings, nutrition surveys, and dental screenings for children; many other community organizations and churches were also represented at the event. The first ever bike ride (photo, L)/1mile walk/5K run had 30 eager participants (from L to R: Esperanza’s Esther Reich, RN, Rachel Kim, and Eunice Kwon, RN). Said Rachel, “It was a great day seeing the community come together to celebrate and serve one another with the great people and resources of Hunting Park!”

SMI 2012 Wrap-Up

This year’s Philadelphia Summer Medical Institute (SMI), a joint outreach of Esperanza and the Medical Campus Outreach ministry, was an amazing success! During three weeks in July, 18 medical and health professions students from all over the U.S. came to Philadelphia to participate in the SMI, which was based at the Urban Hope Training Center and Community Church in Kensington. The core activity of the SMI was door-to-door medical and spiritual outreach to hundreds of residents of Kensington and Hunting Park, and the partnerships and relationships that were formed among participants and community members were a key part of the SMI’s success.

Nine teams of students partnered with Urban Hope and three other churches — Lighthouse Community Church, Bethel Temple, and In the Light Ministries – along with nearly 50 faculty volunteers, five volunteer interpreters and SMI staff members, as they knocked on over 1,700 doors in Kensington and Hunting Park. In addition to conducting over 800 screens for diabetes and high blood pressure and sharing health information, teams also reached out to share the love of Christ with those they met — a total of 605 people received prayer, 28 individuals prayed to receive Christ, and many others were connected with local churches. The students also shadowed with Esperanza clinicians, and heard from panelists on topics including “Spirituality and Healthcare” and “Community Access to Healthcare.” Read more about students’ experiences on the SMI blog site.

Said Holly Favino, SMI 2012 Director: “The people of the North Philly community really opened their doors to the students, and the students’ desire to serve while learning was met. Several students used the words “life changing” to describe their experience in SMI, in terms of how their time here challenged their faith and helped them to integrate their faith in their education and in their future careers.”

Esperanza Receives “Best Practice” Award

For the fourth straight year, Esperanza received a “Best Pracice” award from the Practice Partner Research Network (PPRNet), ranking Esperanza in the top 10% of all practices nationwide that use the Practice Partner electronic health records system. The award is based on Esperanza’s high performance on over 50 standard health quality indicators. PPRNet has 224 physician practices nationwide, representing over 1,219 health care providers, and approximately 2 million patients located in 44 states.

Fitness is for Kids, Too!

While we’ve added exciting new Zumba and kickboxing fitness classes for adults this summer at our Hunting Park facility…now, kids in our community will be able to join in the fun! In September, we’ll begin a partnership with Hunting Park Christian Academy (HPCA), a K-8 primary school located just across the street, and Ayuda Community Center’s K-5 after-school program, to support new children’s fitness activities. With support through a recent major grant award from the Aetna Foundation as well as from our many partners in ministry, the new classes will be led by HPCA and Ayuda staff, with support from our Manager of Café and Exercise Programs, Christe Lee. In addition, later this year we will host new soccer and basketball leagues in partnership with HPCA and the LOGAN Hope School, a K-8 school serving mostly Cambodian refugee families in North Philadelphia’s Logan community.

Job Opportunities at Esperanza

There are new job openings at Esperanza — please visit our website’s Opportunities page for more information. To learn about volunteering at Esperanza, click here.

If you have any questions about Esperanza, please contact Ted Voboril, Development Director by e-mail at tv@esperanzahealth.com or at 215-807-8614.