FHSI Opens New Office in California; Relocates Executive Functions

[Guest guest]

Farmworker

Health Services, Inc.

FHSI Opens New Office in California; Relocates

Executive Functions

Oakland, California, December

13, 2006: Farmworker Health Services, Inc.

(FHSI) is excited to announce the opening of its new office in Oakland, California.

As part of this expansion, FHSI has relocated its Executive functions to California. FHSI

continues to maintain its Washington,

D.C., offices of nearly 37 years.

In November 2006, FHSI’s Executive Director,

C. Gomez relocated from Washington, D.C. to Oakland,

Calif., as part of this expansion

and relocation. Mr. Gomez has been in the migrant health field for 14

years and FHSI’s Executive Director since 1999. FHSI’s

executive offices also house Adam Sharma, Director of Marketing and Information

Services, as well as two other programmatic staff members. The Washington, D.C.,

office is led by Stoimenoff, Director of Training and Consultation, and

houses three additional programmatic staff. Please note FHSI’s new

contact information at the end of this document.

It is estimated that there are over three million

farmworkers that live and work in the U.S., of which nearly one million

farmworkers live and work in the state of California, making it the largest

farmworker state in the country.1,2 Farmworkers in California

are responsible for over 50% of the nation’s fruit, vegetable, and nut production.3

There are approximately 20 migrant-funded Community

Health Center corporations with over 80 service delivery sites in the state

that by and large provide the bulk of the primary care services to farmworker

families that live and work in the state. These health centers

strive to provide quality, cost-effective, and culturally competent care to California’s farmworkers.

FHSI’s current estimates indicate that there are an additional 85 to 90

public or community-based

organizations that provide health care services to farmworkers in California, such as

public health departments, migrant and seasonal head starts, state-funded

health centers, and farmworker housing agencies.

With offices in two locations, FHSI will be able to more

efficiently and effectively provide technical assistance and training services

to as many local health delivery systems as possible nationwide, supporting

their efforts to improve the quality of life of farmworkers. Having

secured additional private funding for its planned services in California, FHSI will

continue to offer its services to farmworker-serving organizations at little or

no cost.

For more information on FHSI’s relocation of its

Executive Offices or on any of FHSI’s products and services, please visit

www.farmworkerhealth.org or

contact Adam Sharma, Director of Marketing and Information Services, at (510)

268-0091 or adam@....

About Farmworker Health Services,

Inc.: Since 1970, FHSI has been the leading organization for

the promotion, delivery, and enhancement of health outreach and prevention

strategies for farmworkers and their families. It provides a wide-range

of programs and services that enable health delivery organizations to

understand and address farmworker health issues more effectively, including Community Health Centers,

Migrant and Seasonal Head Starts, Health Departments, Housing Agencies, and

other community-based health

organizations serving farmworkers.

All of FHSI’s programs and services focus on

four priority areas: 1) Health Outreach and Enabling Services, 2) Health

Education and Prevention Strategies, 3) Cultural Competency and Responsiveness,

and 4) Health Data and Outcome

Measures.

Contact Information:

www.farmworkerhealth.org

Executive Office:

405 14th Street, Ste 809

Oakland, CA

94609

Phone: (510)

268-0091

adam@...

East Coast Office:

1221 Massachusetts Avenue, #5

Washington, DC

20005

Phone: (202)

347-7377

Endnotes:

1 Larson,

Alice;

Plascencia, . “Migrant Enumeration Study”. Washington, D.C.

Office of Minority Health, 1993.

2

Larson, Alice.

“Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Study Enumeration Profile: California

Addendum”. Washington,

D.C. Migrant Health Program,

Bureau of Primary Health Care, Health Resources and Services Administration,

2000.

3 California

Endowment, Agricultural Worker Health Initiative. Website.

“http://www.calendow.org/program_areas/agricultural_worker_health.stm”.

Viewed on December 19, 2006.