“Holding Down the Fort” Features Plight of Low-income Seniors in Midtown/Downtown Detroit
In 2016, the Senior Housing Preservation – Detroit coalition developed a film that highlights the plight of low income seniors who live in the Midtown and Downtown areas of Detroit, which are experiencing dynamic gentrification. The transformation of the Griswold Building into The Albert displaced over 100 seniors. The coalition is working with Mayor Duggan’s administration to ensure that low income seniors remain part of the vision for Detroit’s redevelopment. Additionally, Authority Health is concerned that housing is but one aspect of ensuring the health of this vulnerable population. Other efforts will be undertaken to promote health for these seniors and others in the city, in concert with other senior service agencies.
This film, produced by local filmmaker Kate Levy, was underwritten by Authority Health, Presbyterian Villages of Michigan and United Community Housing Coalition.
Detroit Wayne County Health Authority adopts new name, ‘Authority Health,’ retains historic mission
DETROIT — The Detroit Wayne County Health Authority will be known as Authority Health beginning Saturday, April 18. The new name is designed to simplify the organization’s public identity and better reflect its involvement in regional health initiatives, such as its community-based teaching health center, Nurse-Family Partnership, and Community Health Improvement Collaborative.
“Our Board of Directors has authorized a change in name to allow greater flexibility for implementing our various initiatives such as our community-based teaching health center medical residency program; our Nurse-Family Partnership, which is now regional; our role as a navigation agency for the Affordable Care Act, the new Detroit Wayne County Health Improvement Collaborative, and our Population Health Council,” said Chris Allen, CEO of Authority Health.
“While we remain grounded in the foundation established by the InterLocal Agreement by the State of Michigan, Wayne County, and City of Detroit, the expanded scope of our mission necessitated the change. We will continue to function as a health authority and pursue the same objectives of improving the health of vulnerable citizens in medically underserved areas through greater cohesion between providers and resources in the safety net.”
Key initiatives that expand beyond Wayne County include:
· Several years ago, the Board of Directors authorized the Health Authority to expand its enrollment efforts beyond Wayne County to serve clients in neighboring counties.
· The Authority Health teaching health center program, established through a federal grant three years go to train physicians and dentists in medically underserved areas, is based in Wayne County, but also has training sites outside the county.
· Recently, the Detroit Nurse-Family Partnership was expanded to include all of Wayne County, as well as Macomb.
· The Detroit-Wayne Community Health Collaborative is based on partnerships with health systems serving regional communities and will include strategies that influence vulnerable populations in those communities.
· The Population Health Council remains focused on Wayne County, but actively engages in health equity, environmental quality, and public health issues that aren’t geo-specific.
“As we have seen with the recent collapse of the manufacturing sector and outmigration from Detroit, the low income, vulnerable populations are dispersed throughout all counties in Southeast Michigan. Our challenge is to support public health agencies in the work that they do, while supplementing their efforts by filling funding and programmatic gaps,” Allen said.
About Authority Health
Authority Health is a public body corporate, established as Detroit Wayne County Health Authority in 2004 through an InterLocal agreement between the State of Michigan, Wayne County, and City of Detroit to create a health care safety net for the uninsured and underserved population of Wayne County. Authority Health is a certified navigation agency, promoting enrollment in the Healthcare Marketplace and Healthy Michigan; sponsors the Detroit Nurse-Family Partnership, and the nation’s second largest community-based teaching health center program.
June 19, 2014
General Updates
Health Coverage for Kids
Call us at 313-871-3751 to find out more about low-cost or FREE health coverage for kids.
June 19, 2014
General Updates
Vital Signs
Click here to watch the latest edition of Vital Signs, a series produced by DPTV in partnership with the Detroit Wayne County Health Authority and Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine.
September 18, 2013
General Updates 
April 17, 2013
General Updates
2012 Legacy DMC Annual Report Documents Now Available
Legacy DMC, the oversight function established through the acquisition of the Detroit Medical Center by Vanguard Health Systems, files an annual report reviewing the DMC’s commitment to charity care and capital improvements. The documents are housed at: About Us > More Info > Documents.