Oregon College of Oriental Medicine (OCOM) has received a $15,000 grant award from Kaiser Permanente supporting access to acupuncture care for low-income patients in the Portland metro area. Thanks to Kaiser Permanente’s support, OCOM will provide qualifying low-income community members $15 acupuncture and Oriental medicine treatments. Enrollment in the program, “Expanding Health Care Access to Low-Income Patients,” begins January 20, 2015. Qualifying individuals will be eligible to enroll for five $15 visits between January and October 2015.
OCOM is a 31-year-old nonprofit graduate institution that operates two Portland-area teaching clinics: one in the Old Town Chinatown neighborhood and one in northeast Portland’s Hollywood district. OCOM’s Chinese medicine teaching clinics see more than 20,000 patient visits each year.
Analysis of patient survey data from 2013 grantees shows that those who receive at least five treatments at our clinics get better. Among low-income patients who received a course of five treatments, 92 percent reported having a chronic conditions and 100 percent reported that their conditions improved. Fifty-four percent indicated they rely on safety-net clinics even though 58 percent of them have some health insurance. Ninetysix percent of patients reported they were “extremely” or “very” satisfied with their treatments, and 22 percent reported they did not use the emergency room because of access to health care at OCOM.
“Many of our patients are dealing with serious, chronic conditions, including long-term pain,” said Miles Sledd, LAc, OCOM Director of Clinic Operations. “The acupuncture treatments made available through this grant support our patients to stay engaged with the people and activities that make life worth living.”
Additional information about the program and a downloadable application are available on our website: www.ocom.edu, or by calling OCOM’s Patient Services Team: OCOM Clinic, 503-445-0951; or OCOM Hollywood Clinic at 503-281-1917.
Founded in 1983, OCOM is a single-purpose professional graduate school that offers two specialized degree programs: Master of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (MAcOM) and Doctor of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (DAOM). OCOM’s mission is to transform health care by educating highly skilled and compassionate practitioners, providing exemplary patient care, and engaging in innovative research within a community of service and healing. Our 1,100 graduates practice, teach and research Chinese medicine in 45 states and around the globe, and have provided an estimated 10 million treatments over the past 31 years. In Fall 2012, OCOM relocated its campus and clinic to a LEED Gold certified academic, clinic and research facility in Old Town Chinatown.
Contact: Beth Howlett, [email protected], 503-253-3443 x196
