YOUNGSTOWN HMHP receives national award

St. Elizabeth Health Center has provided services for the past 17 years.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Humility of Mary Health Partners has been named National Humanitarian of the Year by The National Head Start Association.
Each year, the award is given to one participant in the national Head Start initiative. HMHP's Head Start humanitarian effort was first selected as the best in Ohio and then the six-state Region 5 before winning the national award.
HMHP was nominated by the Youngstown Area Community Action Council. YACAC presented the award to HMHP this morning at the Head Start Learning Center, 737 N. Garland Ave., in the McGuffey Plaza.
For the past 17 years, St. Elizabeth Health Center has provided hearing and speech services, on-site physicals and dental care for children enrolled in the YACAC Head Start program.
As a result, 92 percent of children in the program showed improvement in their speech, and the number of children entering school without physicals dropped from 40 percent to about 2 percent, officials said.
YACAC-Head Start said the St. Elizabeth Hearing & amp; Speech Center has provided at least $60,000 worth of volunteer in-kind services a year; and St. Elizabeth Medical-Dental and Lead Poison Prevention services have provided at least $4,281 a year in in-kind services.
"It is a privilege to be able to partner with Head Start in what we believe is an extremely valuable community benefit program. These children represent, in part, the future of our community," said Genie Aubel, HMHP senior vice president.
During the 2002-2003 school year, the speech and hearing departments of St. Elizabeth's screened 1,200 Head Start children. For many, consistent speech therapy in Head Start enables them to no longer need therapy in kindergarten, Aubel said.
Mobile clinic
The HMHP mobile clinic visits two Head Start programs a month.
HMHP's mobile dental clinic, The Smile Station, provides dental exams for children and educational materials for parents.
St. Elizabeth's also has partnered with Head Start and Mahoning County in a lead prevention project, which includes training for Head Start parents and staff as well as screenings for children.
The partnership between HMHP and Head Start reaches out to a population that might otherwise miss out on some much needed medical services, said Roselyn Cera, director of rehabilitation services at HMHP.