WiRED International is pleased to announce the naming of the “Tony and Edie Hodge Health Screening Clinics” program in grateful memory of the Hodges for their lifelong dedication to helping the poor and their concern for global health.
WiRED Executive Director Gary Selnow, Ph.D., said:
Tony gauged the value of our programs by how they helped the people we serve. When he saw a benefit to the people, he often helped fund the project and refine details of the rollout. Tony took a special interest in the community health worker (CHW) program because he saw that training one CHW could have a positive impact on thousands of people. The idea of a health screening clinic appealed to him. He saw it as an important new feature of the CHW program with a potential to impact the health of individuals and the community overall. Tony never got to see the HSC tested in the field, but I think he would be very pleased with the outcome.
Among the health screening measures is a community member’s weight
The late Robert Anthony “Tony” Hodge joined WiRED’s board in 2011. During his tenure as Board Chair, among many achievements, he led the WiRED initiative to honor the late Ambassador J. Stevens and funded WiRED’s Community Health Program in Peru in loving memory of his wife Edie.
Mrs. Hodge was an avid and generous supporter in the arts and charitable organizations. Their daughters Kate Hodge and Jane Athanasakos also contributed to WiRED activities through the years.
The Hodge Health Screening Clinics (HHSCs) will be located in slum settlements throughout Kisumu. WiRED’s community health workers (CHWs) there tested the clinic concept in March with great success.
The HHSC program will:
Blood pressure is an important health measure
Identify health issues early in a population of people who otherwise have little if any health care.
Identify individual health problems and discuss them confidentially.
Serve as a health surveillance measure to detect wider health issues in the community before they spread (e.g. cholera, malaria, diabetes, tuberculosis [TB]).
Operate with a staff of WiRED’s CHWs, manager, clinician, TB x-ray technician and assistants.
Expand the larger CHW program by creating six clinics each year.
Be funded by WiRED to cover location, staffing, supplies and all other expenses.
Even children are screened
The clinics further apply the training and experiences of the CHWs within the communities they serve. They add to the growing list of contributions the CHWs provide to improve health in the most desperately poor regions.
The Hodge Health Screening Clinics program is an apt tribute to Tony and Edie, who dedicated their time, talent and treasure to help those in need.
