Inner City Child Immunization Program
Introduction
According to research, the inner-city places in the United States of America are characterized by a lot of negative occurrences. Among the most common cases in those low-income areas are; high unemployment rate, poor health conditions, and high child mortality rates (Davis 2011). As a health service institution, coming up with an immunization program targeting the inner-city children will play a bigger role both in solving one of the major problems the communities face of child mortality and also creating a collaborative relationship with the community. This economic initiative will present more opportunities for the health facilities, including tax relief measures from the government related to nonprofit hospital charitable actions. Such advantages fuel the achievement of organizational objectives of providing proper service to its patients.
The proposed economic initiative that presents an opportunity for the facility care setting
The economic initiative figured out that could present an incredible opportunity for helping the health facility push its main objective of providing proper health care to patients is the adoption of an immunization program aimed at the inner-city children. Besides the set state health thresholds to ensure that all infants get all the required vaccines to prevent infections, most of the low-income families in the United States still record lower numbers of vaccinated children in comparison to the middle class and the rich type of communities. Despite the USA ranking as a developed state, the coverage of vaccinations has still had a drastic drop in the past few years (World Health Organization 2019). This exposes the inner-city kids to instances like high mortality rates. The decision to opt for the immunization program would have numerous advantages at both the departmental and the organizational level. At the departmental level, health practitioners will be given an opportunity to put their skills into practice and satisfy the patient’s needs. For the organization, the charitable act to the community will create a great connection between the health facility and the people in the community. Through the provision of vaccines to the inner-city kids, the process will create a disposition within a society that shows the existence of shared value between hospitals and the community. This will make the hospital in context the most favorite destination of other patients in that setting. Considering the ever-growing competition between health facilities for a market share for both patients and employees to work in hospitals, this action will help win employees’ loyalty from that community and also retain them (Zeuli 2015). The anchored dependence relationship that will exist between the hospital and the community will result to both social and economic advancement; the hospital will be the most preferred source of medication to the community and also their main job provider, that will reduce instances of high unemployment rate depicted in the low-income areas and concurrently improved public health. However, the possible negative outcomes of the proposed activity might be; the resistance from the target community to accept immunization based on the prevailing beliefs amongst most inner-city residents. One of the reasons behind the low recorded rates of vaccines in the inner-city kids is the notions their parents have over some of the side effects that come with undergoing an immunization (Trauth et al., 2002).
Analysis of the supply and demand for the proposed inner-city child immunization initiative
The mutual relationship existing between the hospital in context and the community is that they both depend on each other for prosperity. For the hospital to do well, they depend on the success of the community; on the other hand, for the society to realize its well being, they need a success-oriented hospital facility. A well-established society will create demand for health services, and this will benefit the hospital as the main provider of the service. Also, a prosperous health facility will be able to create jobs for the community, giving them the opportunity to build their own wealth (Zeuli 2015). In the end, this interdependence breeds an improved economy and society. According to the center for disease control and prevention report, it was stated that the United States of America still had incidences of diseases that could be managed through the administration of vaccines. There were still reported cases of measles and whooping cough, and in 2015 one hundred plus cases of people with measles were recorded (World Health Organization 2015). This is a clear indication of the already available demand for the immunization program among the inner-city children. By initiating this program, the hospital will be granted an opportunity to save lives by preventing diseases associated with a lack of vaccinations. The implementation of this program will see the prevention of disabilities associated with vaccine-preventable diseases. Also, preventing the diseases will result in helping most of the financially disabled lower-city families from the costs associated with treating the consequential ailments. The most likely reason behind this societal drawback is directly linked to the beliefs inner-city parents have. Most of the research done hasn’t addressed this problem leaving noticeable knowledge gaps.
Explanation of the relevant economic and supporting environmental data
The implementation of the inner-city child immunization program will definitely raise the standards of public health of the people residing in those areas. The patient satisfaction mood created will build an anchor for both social and economic expansion. The existence of shared value between the hospital and the community will result in both parties benefitting. According to statistics, most of the jobs offered in more than 70% of the big inner -cities are from health facilities. In around the year 2012, hospitals created over 5million jobs to people in the United States of America and spent a total of over US$ 700 billion in expenses spent on the purchase of goods and services provided by other existing businesses (Zeuli 2015). That’s a clear indication of the level of the positive impact the pursue of the inner-city child immunization program will yield to society and the economy at large. Additionally, by choosing to engage in charitable activities that enhance the public health of the inner-city population comes with a reward. The internal revenue service, IRS, has legal policies in place that offer tax relief to hospitals engaging in charitable works that are aimed at empowering the well being of societies in America. The policies require the hospitals to implement the said programs and document them as proof of engagement. Thereafter the concerned hospitals are able to receive tax relief; it goes as far as even being exempted from the tax burden completely. The policies offer such incentives to motivate health facilities in their quest for proper health care service delivery to low-income communities. Despite all the benefits that come with opting to implement community charity programs, hospitals are also faced with extra tasks like recording and documenting all their progress at least once every year. For instance, the Affordable Care Act, ACA, demands that hospitals engaging in charitable work carry out community health needs assessment, CHNA, programs more often, and also report them (Zeuli 2015). Considering the nature of the procedure, it is an additional hectic task to concerned health facilities with regard to the ever-busy hospital settings.
Conclusion
By choosing to engage in a program offering immunization services to the inner-city communities, the hospital will be relieved of tax burdens imposed on most health facilities. This will mean, the hospital as a whole will have the freedom to engage in more anchoring public health activities. In the end, they would have met their main objective of offering better and efficient health services to their patients concurrently, commanding a larger market share in the health industry.
References
Davis, T. J. (2011). Capacity Building and Community Development in a Black Inner-City Community: A Preliminary Examination of Black Leader’s Attitudes and Perceptions
Trauth, M., J. PhD, Zimmerman, R., K MD, Musa, D. MA., Mainzer, H., MS, and Nutini, J. F. MA (2002). Do Beliefs of Inner-City Parents About Disease and Vaccine Risks Affect Immunization? Journal of the National Medical Association VOL. 94, NO. 9
World Health Organization (2019). World Health Organization Progress and Challenges with Achieving Universal Immunization Coverage, 2018 WHO/UNICEF Estimates of National Immunization Coverage (Data as of July 2019)
World Health Organocation (2015). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Five Important Reasons to Vaccinate Your Child
Zeuli, K. (2015). New Incentives and Opportunities for Hospitals to Engage in Local Economic Development. Economic Development Journal, Volume 14 Issue Number 1