Lower prices to save lives

In June, the Health Resources and Services Administration announced it would require the health centers it funds to charge no more for insulin or epinephrine than what it pays for them through HRSA’s discount drug program.

The 340B Drug Pricing Program allows HRSA funded hospitals to receive discounts on drugs they dispense to low-income patients, typically from 25 to 50% off what these centers would otherwise pay for the drugs. The savings are intended to make the drugs less expensive for their patients, but typically can also be used to expand or improve healthcare services to that same underserved patient base.

HRSA said that it had targeted insulin and epinephrine because they are essential to the patients who need them. Injectable insulin is key to treating diabetes and epinephrine is needed for severe allergic reactions. The new terms apply immediately and are aimed at improving access to and affordability of these vital medications.

Short and sweet

For those who enjoyed The Floating Hospital’s “Hope” video at our summer gala or on YouTube or those who haven’t seen the full five-minute video and want a shorter take, we have released two new videos, each focusing on one of the families featured in “Hope.”

In “Lawanda’s Floating Hospital Story,” a mother who was treated by The Floating Hospital as a child, when it was still providing care on a barge traveling around New York Harbor speaks about her own journey, while her own children discuss their successes and how we have helped them achieve their goals.

“Delexis’s Floating Hospital Story” also involves a mother and her children as well as their own journey into permanent housing. “I’m not living in the shelter system no more and half of that is due to The Floating Hospital,” she says in her video.

Both families have used our services, whether medical, dental, behavioral health, health education, optometry, life skills or transportation to the clinic when they were in temporary housing. Women’s Wellness and Camp Rise Up along with other special programs and items like clothing and personal care products were also cited as essential when they needed them most.

Bonding by the river

The Floating Hospital staff had a chance to recreate, feast and team build at our annual Summer Staff Appreciation Day Picnic on July 18. The clinic closed early so employees could head to the Queensbridge Park at 1. There, on the banks of the East River, they enjoyed games, camaraderie, and a catered lunch.

It was one of the rare days staff could wear jeans to work, and then at the park a t-shirt designed by one of their coworkers: Martha Zambrano, an online referral specialist in the department of family temporary housing. She won a staff-wide contest after she and other creative staffers submitted designs inspired by the theme “All of Us Together.” Different colored t-shirts were produced and assigned randomly to determine which team the wearer would play for during the games.

It was a beautiful day and the team wearing the red t-shirts was the overall winner of the games. Congratulations!