Thoughts for the Day, January 7, 2022: To Sir with Love. I love Packard Health

Quote of the Day:  “I felt very much as if I were representing 15, 18 million people with every move I made,” Sidney Poitier

At our Packard Health Strategic Planning Committee meeting today, Rebecca Fleming, Director of Community Health Initiatives made a presentation on all the many things Packard Health is doing to address the health issues of our patients that are above and beyond their clinical health.  These are issues such as food insecurity, housing concerns, transportation concerns, medication deficiencies, utility shut offs, and child/elder care challenges.  Here are the things Rebecca and her staff are doing.  Congratulations to Rebecca and her team.

• Over 200 patients used our food pantry in November a 300% increase from March.
• Partnering with The Farm at St. Joes to provide fresh produce for our Food Pantry on a regular basis.
• Referred over 70 patients to the Washtenaw County Prescription for Health.  A program in which physicians prescribe healthy food to the patients, who then have their prescriptions filled by local farmers.
• Work closely with Meals on Wheels and Jewish Food Service to refer patients to their food services.
• Assist patients with applications for AATA and other transportation services
• Completed 43 applications for prescription assistance for our patients in the last 6 months.
• Partnered with Michigan Medicine Emergency Room to have 143 patients referred to Packard Health.  These were patients who did not have a primary care physician and were using the ER as their primary care physician.
• Provided home visits in which over 700 patients received their Covid-19 vaccination who otherwise would not have received the vaccination.
• In addition, we provide adult chaperone services for patients who are having a procedure done at one of the health systems which require an adult to be with the patient following the procedure.

I have said this before and I continue to say it, ‘Miracles happen at Packard Health every day.”  I am honored to be part of the Board.   Please check out Packard Health at www.packardhealth.org

Speaking of health, I was having a conversation with Brad who works out at the gym with me early most mornings.  We were talking about how the boys swam naked in our high school gym classes for supposedly health reasons.  This got me thinking about some of the crazy things that were done in the name of health, education, and recreation.  It is a wonder I made it to 70.

• If we wanted water during our two-a-day summer football practices, we were told we were weak and we could get it after practice.
• If we had a scrape, we were told to rub dirt on it.
• If you got knocked out during a football game, we were given smelling salts and were asked to count to 10.  If we got to 10, we were sent back into the game because we only had our “bell rung”.
• Riding two or three on a bicycle was a normal mode of transportation.  Bike helmets didn’t exist.
• Baseball helmets were optional.
• Weight training was a no/no for baseball players
• Stretching before games didn’t exist.
• Converse All Stars were the best athletic shoe available.  Wearing double and triple socks helped prevent blisters.
• Bologna, spam, white bread, Vienna sausage and Velveeta cheese were food staples.
• My father taught me to eat raw hamburger at a very young age
• Butter was left out on the table, so it was easy to spread. 
• Bacon grease was saved to be used again.
• We had a coal bin in our basement to use in our furnace. At an early age I learned how to shovel coal into a furnace.
• We thought nothing of swimming in the Detroit River.
• Snow turned to orange after three days because of the pollution in River Rouge.
• Corporal punishment was handed out daily at all schools.  One of my teachers only paddled one kid each year.  The first one.  After that the last person to get paddled got to paddle the next one.
• Our gym teachers always had a paddle in one hand and a whistle around their neck.
• My gym teacher told me if I peed on my feet every day, I would never have athletes foot.
• My doctor would be smoking while he gave me my allergy shot and treated me for asthma.
• If I had a cold my parents would put Vicks on my chest and then had me swallow a spoonful.  They didn’t bother to read the label that said not to be taken orally.
• Salt pill dispensers were more available than drinking fountains when I worked in the Bottle Shop at Stroh Brewery during the summer.
• Beer was free while you worked at Strohs.  A coca cola cost a quarter.
• Both parents smoking in the car with a backseat filled with kids was normal.
• Drinking and driving was normal.

What are you doing today to stop violence?  What are you doing today to expand mental health services for those in need?  What are you doing today to make sure your guns are not are accessible to minors in your household?

Stay Safe. Social Distance. Wear your mask when indoors in public places.  Schedule your vaccine and booster.

Orchid of the Day:  Rebecca Fleming of Packard Health.  See above story.

Onion of the Day: Former Michigan Speaker of the House, who is married for his admitted lengthy affair with one woman and his being accused of sexually assaulting another woman since she was a minor. For a person who has touted the Bible and his religious faith on more than one occasion during his political career, having an affair seems hypocritical.