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The Business of Health Care Report
My guest today is Margaret Jordan,
executive vice president of corporate affairs for Texas Health Resources, speaking about
the health of women and girls in Dallas County. MARGARET: Thanks, Doug. Texas Health
Resources works with many groups and agencies to improve the health of the communities we
serve. One such collaboration was serving as an underwriter of the Dallas Women's Foundation
in its preparation of "Out of the Shadows," a research project focused on women's and girls'
lives, struggles and hopes. While the study is rich with data, I'd like to focus today on
its health care findings. More than three-quarters of women
reported themselves in good or excellent health. Yet pockets of exception reveal many
health-related needs in Dallas County. For example, almost one-third get little or no
exercise. Seventeen percent smoke. During the survey period, 83 percent of women had
health insurance; yet 27 percent had gone without coverage at some period in the past
12 months. Half of Hispanic women had no health insurance, the highest among the ethnic
groups sampled. One-fifth of women 36-45 had never
had a mammogram, vital to early detection of breast cancer, and one-fourth of all women
did not have prenatal care during the first trimester of pregnancy. Seventeen percent
said that a household female had gone without medications because of no health insurance
or inadequate finances. Though depression is less than half
as likely to be fatal for women than men, twice as many women suffer from it. Eighteen
percent reported depression during the past two years, and at 23 percent, the rate is even
higher for Hispanic women. Four percent reported feeling suicidal. Problems seem particularly acute for
separated and disabled women, where household incomes are tight, so health services,
including prescription drugs, are postponed. At times when help is needed most, services
can seem least accessible. Citizens, social service agencies,
health care providers and companies alike have a role to play in keeping communities
healthy. DOUG: Thank you Margaret. For Texas Health Resources
and its family of hospitals - Harris Methodist Hospitals, Presbyterian
Healthcare System and Arlington Memorial Hospital - I'm CEO
Doug Hawthorne
with "The Business of Health Care Report" on NewsRadio 1080 KRLD.
©
2003 Texas Health Resources |
I'm Doug Hawthorne, President and CEO of Texas Health Resources, with
"The Business of Health Care Report" on 