Dear Colleagues and Community Partners,
The Florida Department of Health’s Office of Minority Health invites you to join us in protecting, promoting, and improving the health of all people in Florida by supporting the statewide campaign “Take a Loved One to the Doctor Month”. The campaign is inspired by the Take a Loved One to the Doctor Day national initiative which is celebrated annually on the third Tuesday in September. The Department is seeking to remind Florida residents and visitors of the importance of seeking health care by extending this observance all month long. The 2014 campaign theme, “Only You Can Keep Yourself Healthy; Healthy Weight; Healthy Food Choices and Regular Check-up & Preventive Screenings= A HEALTHY YOU!”
The goal is to encourage families and others to join together to promote good health in our communities by taking a loved one for a health screening or making and keeping an appointment with a licensed physician or other health care provider. By participating in this observance, the department is helping to provide Floridians with the tools needed to take charge of their health.
This year, the Office of Minority Health solicits your participation in establishing a statewide network of health care providers, health centers, clinics, physicians, and health departments who would offer health services and screenings to individuals in our communities who are uninsured or underinsured. Through a coordinated statewide campaign, we hope that more people will get involved, take advantage of the available services offered by our health care system, and assist others who are in need.
We will provide a Take a Loved One to the Doctor Month toolkit that will include: promotional letter, flyers, posters, and pledge cards in English and Spanish to help publicize your Take a Loved One to the Doctor Month events. Help get the word out by distributing the flyers throughout your community, along with encouraging staff, friends, family, community members and partners to “Take a Loved One to the Doctor.” If you would like to participate in this year’s campaign, please send us the date, time, location, and services being provided at your event by Friday, August 29, 2014 to MinorityHealth@flhealth.gov so we can post these events to our website.
Thank you for your participation in this important initiative.
Sincerely,
Celeste Philip, MD, MPH
Deputy Secretary for Health and
Deputy State Health Officer for
Children’s Medical Services (CMS)
