As you are
reading this we will just have closed the National
Hemophilia Foundation’s (NHF) Annual Meeting here in
Chicago. We were honored to be the host city to nearly 2,500
people taking part in this great event. If you were able to
participate in some part of this incredible event, we hope
that you enjoyed and found the many activities during
November 10 – 12 to have been beneficial in some way. There
was so much great information shared during this important
community gathering.
We took this opportunity of having so many people in Chicago
during this past week to hold the grand opening of our new
home at 210 S. DesPlaines. The ribbon cutting was held on
Sunday afternoon, November 6th at 2:30 pm at our offices. We
dedicated the new facility to all people with hemophilia and
inherited bleeding disorders – past, present and future.
Thank you to all that joined us on this special celebration.
The ceremony was followed by a reception at the Hyatt Hotel
on Wacker Drive.
I’m proud to announce that Joi Heierling was recognized at
the NHF Annual Meeting Awards Ceremony. In her efforts to
complete her commitment to the Women-to-Women program, Joi
reached out to the Chicago Fire Department (CFD) offering to
work with them to develop a training module for First
Responders regarding bleeding disorders. Thanks to her
outstanding efforts in the coming months all CFD staff will
be trained on how to help a person with a bleeding disorder
should they encounter them in their line of duty. Joi and
BDAI accepted an Award of Distinction on November 12 for
this innovative Health Education Program.
The Board and staff are in the midst of important planning
for 2012 and beyond. This team recently participated in a
group Lean Six Sigma Training Program. This is an innovative
business analysis model that we will use to develop specific
measurements to evaluate what we do for the community in the
future. What we learned will serve as the basis for a
revised 3-5 year Strategic Plan which we plan to unveil at
next year’s Annual Meeting in August.
I am pleased to report that in 2012 we will be moving
forward with our Rural Outreach Project. We received a grant
from Baxter to conduct a community needs assessment
exploring strategies and techniques to help us address
barriers in supporting the bleeding disorder community in
Illinois. Our vision is to have all persons with bleeding
disorders living in the state of Illinois – no matter where
you live – be able to participate in education and community
services supporting strong personal empowerment in relation
to your bleeding disorder. Watch for how you can become
involved in this important venture.
As we continue to make planning central to BDAI’s business
structure, we hope that this inspires you to make planning
central to your life as well. Fall is a great time for you
start planning things for the remainder of the year and get
a jump-start on planning for next. First, it is a great time
to do an insurance review. This is the time when many
companies’ have annual open enrollment period (we have
included an article in this newsletter, on page 17 to assist
anyone who may be going through this). Regardless, it is
important that you take the time to review your insurance
expenses including premiums, out-of-pocket expenses and
co-insurances. There is a lot you can learn from this
exercise and may even possibly lower costs for the coming
year.
This is also the time of year when many of us are asked at
our work to support Community Health Charities and/or United
Way. Both of these organizations support the Bleeding
Disorders Alliance. We are a member of Community Health
Charities (CHC.) If you employer has a CHC campaign you can
choose our number and your contribution will come to us (it
is still listed as the Hemophilia Foundation of Illinois.)
If you would be interested in starting a CHC campaign, call
us to learn how. We actually get extra support for any new
campaigns that one of our members start.
United Way, while much larger and more prevalent, does not
directly support health charities like ours. But this should
not stop you. If you participate in a United Way campaign
and would like to support BDAI all you have to do is
specifically designate that your support goes to us. We
receive approximately $2,500 a year from people writing in
our name on their United Way forms. I know that a lot of you
out there simply fill out the form and don’t think where
your money is going. Help us out and consider writing in
BDAI.
It is also a great time to submit your application for the
State Hemophilia Program. Always remember that this vital
program is available for anyone with a bleeding disorder. It
is best to complete the application – just in case. It
generally takes about 6 weeks to be approved for the program
but if you have proactively filed your application you can
be enrolled if and when you may need it.
These are just a few of the things that are on my mind right
now.
All the best,
