Monday, October 27, 2014

What About Obamacare?

“Now that we have Obamacare, do we still need places like Tapestry Health?” This is a common question I hear nowadays.

From its beginning Tapestry has fought for desperately needed access to care—first for women profoundly in need of family planning services, and then for the many marginalized and low-income communities we serve today. And over the years we have seen progress. 2006 marked a big victory for greater access when Massachusetts led the way toward universal coverage. More recently President Obama built the national Affordable Care Act based on the Massachusetts model, bringing health insurance within reach for millions.

So hasn’t the access gap been closed? Who is left for Tapestry to serve? If people have insurance, can’t they just go to their regular doctor? Why do they need us?

Questions like this were raised at this month’s National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association’s regional meeting in Indiana, which I attended with Tapestry managers. We encouraged caregivers from other programs in other states, which are just getting used to the ACA, to look to Massachusetts to understand how their work will continue to be critically important. Because the reality is that, despite eight years of greater access, community-based healthcare is still a crucial element in our state’s safety net.

Consider who Tapestry serves. Of our 6,800 annual reproductive health patients, 95% report incomes at or near the poverty level. For these clients the challenges of daily life are staggering. The time, financial and logistical costs of a traditional doctor’s appointment are prohibitive. Social barriers rooted in language, culture and the need for trauma-informed care can also be impediments. Moreover, while many have been insured for years under Mass Health, Western MA residents struggle even to find doctors in the face of a provider shortage that the Springfield Republican deems a “medical emergency.” 

Tapestry Health is vital in filling these gaps. With same or next-day appointments, the ability to accept walk-ins, sliding-scale services, and offices throughout the area, Tapestry provides trauma-informed, culturally-sensitive care locally and immediately.  

So, do we still need places like Tapestry? Yes. Even with Obamacare, Tapestry’s work remains essential to the health of our region. A better question is, “How can Tapestry 2.0 leverage new access to coverage to serve our community in a more comprehensive way?”  It is this question that we will strive to answer in the months ahead.   

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Confronting the Opioid Crisis

Photo credit: Dave Roback, The Republican
I want to take a moment to share with you about an important event that happened last week. At First Churches in Northampton, Tapestry Health helped to host a candlelight vigil for those who have lost loved ones to heroin overdose. Local victims’ names were read aloud, and many people shared stories of how these losses have devastated families and our community.

By bringing forward and honoring the memories of victims, the vigil highlighted the real human cost of our region’s serious opioid crisis. Tapestry is at the forefront of the effort to confront this crisis and turn it around.
Some of you who know us primarily for our reproductive health and family planning services may be surprised to learn that Tapestry has been doing critical work to reduce the impact of substance use since 1995 when we opened our first needle exchange in Northampton. Our needle exchange staff have now trained over 3,000 people on how to recognize an overdose and intervene using Narcan to prevent an overdose death.
Over 350 people in our area have reported back to us that Narcan was used to reverse an overdose. That’s 350 people given a chance to live another day and seek treatment.
Our trainings also help shift attitudes toward heroin addiction, fostering non-judgmental approaches to caring for those affected. Head trainer and needle exchange Director Liz Whynott (pictured above) was interviewed at the vigil. As she explained, “We treat drug users with respect and work to respond to what they need instead of trying to get them to follow our agenda”.
This client-centered approach is a common thread through all of Tapestry’s services. As our leadership team works to strengthen operations and make programs more efficient, we remain dedicated to meeting people where they are, and to treating everyone as worthy of care.


You can read MassLive’s coverage of the vigil here and a recent interview with Liz Whynott about Tapestry's Needle Exchange here.

If you or someone you know is concerned about opioid overdose, call the Tapestry Health Needle Exchange for help and information. 

Northampton: (413) 586-0310 
Holyoke:  (413) 315-3732 ext. 1