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A&P, CHF Work to Change Children's Health Coverage

Visitors and employees at A&P's corporate headquarters will find some unusual new sculptures on temporary display here. The tongue depressor, asthma inhaler and stethoscope designed at the Rhode Island School of Design are reminders of the child health crisis in America. Of the 47 million people said to be uninsured in the U.S., 9 million are children, according to Karen Redlener, executive

MONTVALE, N.J. — Visitors and employees at A&P's corporate headquarters will find some unusual new sculptures on temporary display here.

The tongue depressor, asthma inhaler and stethoscope designed at the Rhode Island School of Design are reminders of the child health crisis in America. Of the 47 million people said to be uninsured in the U.S., 9 million are children, according to Karen Redlener, executive director of The Children's Health Fund, New York, whose organization has spent 20 years trying to effect change to get better medical services to low-income and underserved children and their families.

“The health care system is not functioning effectively for kids in general,” she said. However, those from low-income families are at greater risk, living in areas with few health care providers.

CHF, founded in 1987 by pediatrician and child advocate Irwin Redlener and singer/songwriter Paul Simon, has put in place a comprehensive model of coordinated services consisting of primary and pediatric care, mental health and social services, and referral management.

The nonprofit service has 35 mobile medical units that cover 21 underserved communities around the country. During the past 20 years, CHF has provided quality health care services for 350,000 children, said Redlener.

The group strongly advocated for the expansion of S. 2499, the Medicare, Medicaid and State Children's Health Insurance Expansion Act of 2007. While President Bush signed a bill to renew the Children's Health Insurance Program until March 2009, he did not expand the bill to cover 4 million additional children.

“There are many barriers to health care for kids. It [the health care system] is difficult, fragmented and not comprehensive. We believe there should be care for all children,” Redlener stated.

A&P pledged to raise $1 million for the organization after A&P's Christian Haub, chairman, and Eric Claus, president and chief executive officer, visited a medical mobile unit operating in the South Bronx in New York City. Since the kickoff of its CHF fund-raiser that coincided with the reopening of A&P's upscale Bridgemarket Food Emporium in Manhattan in November 2006, the company has raised just over $587,000 through in-store and employee drives and participation in the annual Children's Health Fund Gala, where Haub was honored last year for his corporate leadership in helping to raise awareness for children's health issues as well as funds for CHF.

“We have been genuinely impressed by A&P's work and enthusiasm in helping us,” said Redlener. So far, A&P is the only food company that has lent its support to the organization.

This year's CHF funding goal is $21 million, the largest amount ever, with a planned capital investment in a facility in the Bronx that will include a health clinic, educational facilities and a center for special health initiatives, which includes a program called Starting Right.

A&P's support has been targeted to assist with Starting Right, CHF's obesity prevention program, which includes nutritional services. The retailer's support also ensures that six to eight pediatricians and clinical providers are aboard the mobile units stationed across the country, including the South Bronx and Harlem in New York City and New Orleans.

A&P's social responsibility commitments center on the health and welfare of children. “We believe that CHF fits perfectly into this profile, as they are committed to providing health care to the nation's most medically underserved children and their families through the development and support of innovative primary-care medical programs, response to public health crises and the promotion of guaranteed access to appropriate health care for all children,” said an A&P spokeswoman.

Redlener said she is hopeful that under a new federal administration, changes will be made to improve the health care system and ensure that all children get health benefits. “There is momentum to bring change from every direction. People in the country want an improved health care system, and the costs are out of control. I am hopeful and glad there will be a chance from a bipartisan perspective to make things better in health care.”