[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 93 (Friday, June 29, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1282]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          GINA UPCHURCH RECEIVES COMMUNITY HEALTH LEADER AWARD

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                          HON. DAVID E. PRICE

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 28, 2001

  Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I want to offer my 
congratulations to Gina Upchurch, one of 10 recipients of the 2001 
Robert Wood Johnson Community Health Leader Award. Ms. Upchurch has 
earned this honor for her pathbreaking work with the Senior PHARMAssist 
Program based in Durham, North Carolina.
  Each year, the Community Health Leadership Program recognizes ten 
individual who have found innovative ways to bring health care to 
communities whose needs have been ignore or unmet. Ms. Upchurch was 
selected for this prestigious recognition from a field of 577 nominees.
  As founder and executive director of Senior PHARMAssist, Ms. Upchurch 
created a model to help seniors on limited incomes purchase expensive 
medications. PHARMAssist monitors the medications of their clients to 
help prevent life-threatening interactions and provides financial aid 
to those on limited incomes. The program has helped more than 2,600 
seniors get the medications they need and has educated over 800 older 
adults about safer usage of medication.
  The counseling and support provided by PHARMAssist works. A recent 
study conducted by the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill found 
that emergency room visits and over-night hospital stays had decreased 
by almost a third for seniors who had been in the program for at least 
one year.
  Ms. Upchurch graduated from UNC with degrees in pharmacy and public 
health. She served in the Peace Corps in Botswana before returning to 
North Carolina to write her master's thesis, a policy analysis which 
recommended a program to provide health care to seniors throughout the 
state. This laid the groundwork for what eventually became Senior 
PHARMAssist. She now oversees a $500,000 budget and has written a 
manual to help other communities establish a similar program.
  Gina Upchurch has improved health care and helped those in need in 
our community. I am proud to recognize her achievements today.

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