Learn more about the HBU program at Packard Health

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Please call 734-971-1073 before you visit our food pantries to confirm that they are open on that day.

Fresh-a-Sprout MERCADO DE COMIDA FRESCA GRATIS

The Fresh-a-Sprout market has closed for the season, but it will be back in the spring! All the food offered in the Fresh-a-Sprout market is donated by The Farm at Trinity Health and is FREE to all community members. It is typically held each Tuesday unless there is heavy rain/snow fall and/or thundering and lightning. ​​​​​​​It rotates through our 3 primary clinic locations and runs through the end of produce season.

Despensas de alimentos

Appointments are not necessary and everything is free and open to the entire community- patients and non-patients! See our pantry guidelines.

Please call 734-971-1073 before you visit our food pantries to confirm that they are open on that day.

Packard Carpenter Pantry
2650 Carpenter Road, Ann Arbor

• Monday: 10am – 12pm, 1pm – 4pm
• Tuesday: 1pm – 4pm (Pantry is closed Tue. morning.)
• Wednesday: 8am – 12pm (Pantry is closed Wed. afternoon.)
• Thursday: CERRADO
• Friday: 1pm – 4pm (Pantry is closed Fri. morning. Check in will begin at 12:30pm, please do not arrive earlier than that. Thank you!)

Packard West Pantry
1915 Pauline Blvd., Ann Arbor

• Monday: CERRADO
• Tuesday: CERRADO
• Wednesday: CERRADO
• Thursday: 10am – 4pm
• Friday: CERRADO

Packard Ypsilanti Pantry
200 Arnet St., Suite 110

• Monday: 1pm – 4pm (Pantry is closed Mon. morning.)
• Tuesday: 1pm – 4pm (Pantry is closed Tue. morning.)
• Wednesday: CERRADO
• Thursday: 9am – 12pm, 1pm – 4pm
• Friday: CERRADO

Al visitar nuestras despensas, por favor tenga en cuenta las siguientes pautas:

• One person per household is welcome to shop one PH pantry location weekly.
• Los compradores deben ser mayores de 18 años.
• Shopping guidelines: 1 meat item/household, 1 dairy item/household
• Los suministros disponibles se basan en lo que se puede obtener a través de nuestro socio, Food Gatherers. No podemos atender solicitudes dietéticas específicas.
• Por favor, sé paciente y considerado con los demás que esperan usar la despensa. No se tolerará ningún comportamiento grosero o inapropiado.
• Los clientes son acompañados a la despensa por orden de llegada.
• En caso de que las circunstancias necesarias lo requieran, la despensa puede cerrar sin previo aviso.

Si está experimentando inseguridad alimentaria que no se aborda con nuestras operaciones de despensa actuales, por favor informe a nuestro personal.

Download pantry guidelines.

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Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 4 egg whites
• 1 dash hot pepper sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 tablespoons reduced-fat, shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 teaspoons trans fat free margarine
• 4 slices (about 3 ounces) reduced-sodium, chopped deli ham
• 1/4 cup diced onion
• 1/4 cup diced green pepper
• 4 corn tortillas (heated)
• 4 teaspoons salsa
  

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg whites, hot pepper sauce, black pepper, and cheese.
2. Heat the margarine in a medium non-stick pan over medium heat. Add the ham and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Remove the ham from the pan.
3. Add the onions and green peppers to the hot pan, and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the ham back to pan.
4. Reduce the heat to low and add the eggs to pan. Gently stir the eggs with a spoon or spatula and continue lightly cooking over low heat until the eggs are cooked and set.
5. Evenly divide the egg mixture into 4 servings. Spoon each portion of the egg mixture into a tortilla and top each with 1 tsp. salsa. Fold the tortilla to close.

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Join the demo here:
https://tinyurl.com/y43n4tm3 

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Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion, diced (1 cup)
• 1 red bell pepper, diced (1 cup)
• 2 carrots, diced (1/2 cup)
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 pound extra-lean ground beef (90 percent lean)
• One 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 2 cups water
• 1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce, seeded and minced
• 2 teaspoons adobo sauce from the can of chipotles
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• One 15.5-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
• One 15.5-ounce can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• One 15.5-ounce can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

Directions
Heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over moderate heat. Add the onion, bell pepper and carrots, cover and cook, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the cumin and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the ground beef; raise the heat to high and cook, breaking up the meat with a spoon, until the meat is no longer pink. Stir in the tomatoes, water, chipotle and adobo sauce, oregano and salt and pepper. Simmer, partially covered, stirring from time to time, for 30 minutes. Stir in the beans and cook, partially covered, 20 minutes longer. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

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The thought of a schedule can be intimidating. They can be complicated to create, follow, and maintain.

Children’s immunization schedules are no exception. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that this schedule, which includes the prevention of 13 diseases, be carefully followed.  Packard Health understands that taking the time to educate our patients’ parents or guardians about each vaccination on the schedule is an important part of this process.  Packard Health providers are willing and eager to answer questions and discuss concerns around vaccinations.

The global pandemic has caused fear and uncertainty about leaving the safety of home and risking exposure.  While no public place can be deemed entirely “safe,” a medical facility rests at the top of the list of the safest given the safety and cleaning protocols and procedures firmly in place, such as enforcing mask wearing, physical distancing, and plexiglass barriers.  Skipping an important medical appointment can have serious consequences.  Packard Health is helping to ensure that its patients’ medical needs, including disease prevention, are attended to during COVID-19.

“The avoidable suffering and death caused by children missing out on routine immunizations could be far greater than COVID-19 itself,” according to Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, World Health Organization Director-General. “But it doesn’t have to be that way. Vaccines can be delivered safely even during the pandemic.”

Echoing such statements on the importance of vaccinations is Packard Health Nurse Practitioner Cathy Buiten, APRN-C.

“SARS-CoVid-19 has rocked the world,” said Buiten. “More personally it has taken us away from school, work, and the gym, and it has taken some we love in painful ways.  Scientists are developing vaccines to prevent us from this personally, socially, and economically destructive disease.”

In the meantime, we need to continue to take advantage of the vaccines we already have. It is easy to forget the tragedies that led to their development.

Buiten shared a story about a childhood neighbor. “She had polio. She remembered being sent to the Shriners Hospitals for Children in Chicago for eight months in her childhood.  No one from her family could visit her.  She was disabled until her natural death at age 88.”  According to Buiten, since the development of vaccinations to combat polio, there has not been a case of type 2 wild poliovirus since 1999, and cases of type 3 wild poliovirus have not been found anywhere in the world since 2012.

It can be difficult for the current, post-vaccine generations to comprehend what life was truly like during those times. In some way, the fear that has resulted from the current pandemic gives us all a taste. The significant drop in the number of vaccinations since the pandemic began is of great concern. While vaccinations have been challenged, they work, but only when widely administered.

“Smallpox was the first disease combated with a vaccine, which was developed in 1796.  We no longer immunize the general population against smallpox,” shared Buiten. “However, measles, pertussis, hepatitis and other diseases run through our world.  Fortunately, we have immunizations that prevent these diseases from having a harmful impact on our lives.”

Advice from Buiten, “Talk to older neighbors – learn about what they lived through.”

Make an appointment today for immunizations:
https://packardhealth.org/contact/

Learn about the steps taken to develop a vaccine:

Schedules & Resources:
Birth – 6 Year Schedule – Español
7 – 18 Year Schedule – Español
Vaccines for Children Program (no cost vaccinations) – Español
Vaccination Guidance During a Pandemic

Cervical Cancer Screening

Like immunizations, cervical cancer screening is all about prevention.

Having access to a simple screening tool can be the difference between discovering the onset of cancer or an advanced diagnosis.

The American Cancer Society estimates that about 4,290 women will die from cervical cancer in the United State this year. Cervical cancer is most commonly diagnosed between the ages of 35 and 44 and was once one of the most common causes of cancer death for American women.

The cervical cancer death rate dropped significantly with the increased use of the Pap test, which detects both changes in the cervix before cancer develops and early, curable cancer.  In conjunction with the more recently developed HPV test, which detects infection by high-risk types of HPV that are more likely to cause pre-cancer and cancers of the cervix, prevention is even better versus a Pap test alone.

Risk factors that can be managed include: HPV vaccines, HPV treatments, sexual history, smoking, a weakened immune system, chlamydia infection, long-term use of oral contraceptives, multiple full-term pregnancies, young age at first full-term pregnancy, economic status, and a diet low in fruits and vegetables.

In the United States, Hispanic women, followed by Black/African-American women, have the highest risk of developing cervical cancer.  Fifty two point nine percent of Packard Health patients are women and approximately 80% of those women are in the age range for regular cervical cancer screenings. Of the almost 65% of female patients that disclosed their race, about 33% are Black/African American. Approximately 43% of women disclosed their ethnicity, just fewer than 14% of them identified as Hispanic.

Many in our Packard Health community are at a higher risk of being impacted. Let us help to prevent and detect.

Source: American Cancer Society

Make an appointment today for a cervical cancer screening:
https://packardhealth.org/contact/

The post Disease Prevention: Keeping Our Community Healthy appeared first on Packard Health.

Dr. Ravi Vadlamudi was in Nepal during the 2015 earthquake, and in Louisiana in the aftermath of Katrina. Like each and every Packard Health care provider, Dr. Ravi has a personal store of exceptional commitment and compassion. He’s drawn to help people in need.

Karen Koeppe, Certified Diabetes Educator and Dietitian, has worked with patients to manage their chronic disease for 18 years. She created the Packard Pacers, a group of patients that walk the trails of County Farm Park each summer.

On Sunday, March 24, 2019 Ravi and Karen will join a dozen other Packard Health staff in the Probility Ann Arbor Marathon. The community health center is a featured charity of the event.

Packard Health was founded 46 years ago with the vision that everyone deserves access to quality health care. Packard Health provides integrated, team-based care, regardless of patients’ ability to pay, type of illness or circumstance.

Picture Packard Health – on any given day, exam rooms are filled with at-risk patients. They have complex medical needs, addiction and mental health issues, immigrant concerns, and an array of social barriers to healthcare. They are the most vulnerable in our community.

It takes uncommon caregivers to effectively connect with the most vulnerable – people like Packard’s Dr. Ronald Romero, who received 2018 Clinician of the Year Award from Michigan Primary Care Association. People like Ravi Vadlamudi and Karen Koeppe, who will be on the course March 24^th, urged on by a cheering team of Packard Health volunteers.

Everyone deserves the best opportunity to achieve health. That’s the idea that Packard Health runs on.

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What if there were tests to find cancer in people who have no symptoms? Or tests to find the disease in its earliest, most treatable forms, or before it even begins?

There are! These tests are cancer screens – and they SAVE LIVES. Maybe yours!

Packard Health care providers know all about cancer screening.

Sometimes it’s hard to start talking about it – we’re here to help. We can discuss which test is best for you, and our office staff can advise on coverage options. Cancer screens do not have to be expensive.

3 Screens that save lives…

1.  COLON

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Fair Fun Facts

• 45 children received free physicals
• 65 children had dental screenings
• Immunizations were in such demand, the Washtenaw Department of Health staff had to go back to their office to get more vaccines.
• 100 bike helmets and 200 backpacks were given out
• Packard followed up with 100 families
• 30 community organizations provided fun and funds
• 40 volunteers provided “Go” power

It was an awesome afternoon for the kids in our community. Thank you EVERYONE who supported this event.

Healthy Kids Fair Supporters

• Rotary Club of Ann Arbor
• Arbor Springs Water
• The Education Project
• Epic Races
• Fresh Thyme Farmer’s Market
• Growing Hope
• Hastings Mutual Charitable Foundation
• Healthy Hearts – Wayne State School of Medicine
• Huron Valley Ambulance
• Hylant Group
• Jacobsen | Daniels
• Lions Club of Ann Arbor – Project KidsSight
• Marco’s Pizza on Rawsonville Road
• National Children’s Oral Health Foundation
• Rotary Club of Dexter
• Rotary Club of Ypsilanti
• Rotary Club of Ann Arbor North
• Safe Kids Huron Valley
• Washtenaw Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights
• Washtenaw County Department of Health

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Almost 50 folks of all ages joined together for our first walk of the summer season! Packard Health family physician Ron Romero welcomed everyone and spoke about the benefits of exercise and walking, including building a healthy community. Karen Koeppe (coordinator and staff diabetes educator) led stretches and warm-up. Participants received a “Walk with a Doc” fitness pedometer and chose to go on either a short or long walk along beautiful, established trails within the park. Walkers were accompanied and encouraged by Packard staff including Dr. Romero, Amy Rendon, Marisa Iaderosa, Kaylee Trone and Karen Koeppe.

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