29 |
P a g e
And, Chesapeake has a higher than expected age adjusted rate of deaths due to Alzheimer’s
disease.
The four major health systems in Hampton Roads came together to form the Advance Care
Planning Coalition of Eastern Virginia. They are actively engaged in developing and
implementing the
As You Wish
program which will educate and encourage the community to
implement advance care planning. Baseline data shows that only 17.5% of adult patients
coming into the hospital had advance care plans.
In the community meetings, one of the commonly expressed concerns was about having
access to health care services. In the survey, having access to affordable health care was the
highest priority area for investment in programs for the older population. Health Professional
Shortage Areas (HPSAs) are designated by Health Resources and Services Administration as
having shortages of primary medical care, dental or mental health providers. Chesapeake has
one area in South Norfolk that is an official HPSA for primary care.
19
According to CMS, there
are 49 primary care physicians that accept Medicare within 5 miles of Chesapeake. This
includes only two with specialties in geriatric medicine.
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Chesapeake 20.80 20.10 14.50 22.50 30.40 24.10 13.10 20.70 29.40 22.30 21.70 30.80 25.30
Virginia
18.70 20.20 18.7 22.60 22.00 22.50 20.50 23.30 23.50 23.20 24.40 23.00 21.10
0.00
5.00
10.00
15.00
20.00
25.00
30.00
35.00
Resident Deaths Caused by Alzheimer's Disease
w/Age-Adjusted Rates per 100,000 Population
(Trendline for Chesapeake)
