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The Community Health Service department of Providence Memorial Hospital, a 501(c)3 organization was begun in 1992. It had a nebulous mission but very quickly started to expand and the mission - to take the serviced to PMH into the community - also expanded.
Like the Constitution, a great number of activities can be added to a mission statement that is open ended. Funding was established as being the interest on a three million dollar grant made by the hospital to the Providence Foundation (now defunct). The three million was derived from disproportionate share funding from Medicaid. Initially, the major effort was expended in screenings. It very soon became apparent that a large percentage of the population of El Paso is un/under insured and that preventive care is minimal. The system does not seem to accommodate the people. Our mission then became to detect problems early, and plan interventions with other organizations.
The Community Health Service department of Providence Memorial Hospital, a 501(c)3 organization was begun in 1992. It had a nebulous mission but very quickly started to expand and the mission - to take the services of Providence Hospital into the community - also expanded. Like the Constitution, a great number of activities can be added to a mission statement that is open ended. Funding was established as being the interest on a three million dollar grant made by the hospital to the Providence Foundation (now defunct). The three million was derived from disproportionate share funding from Medicaid. Initially, the major effort was expended in screenings. It very soon became apparent that a large percentage of the population of El Paso is un/under insured and that preventive care is minimal. Our mission then became to detect problems early, and plan interventions with other organizations. We have been quite successful in networking with other non-profit entities. We successfully carried out a project under a block grant from the City to serve seniors within the city. Coming in far under budget, we also executed a migrant farm worker project in West Texas and Southern New Mexico, and also in assisting the City/County Health Department in accomplishing their missions. In 1994, we were asked to sponsor a volunteer Medical Team, which provides medical support at major events in El Paso. This team had been operative for twenty years under other auspices, and we had provided medical support, but now felt the need for more autonomy. The members of this team are physicians, nurses, and emergency personnel who volunteer thousands of hours each year at concerts, games, races and other events. With the sale of Providence to a profit entity, we incorporated in July 1995, and subsequently successfully applied for 501(c)3 status retroactive to that date. The name change to ProAction was accomplished in July 1996.
In 2008, ProAction's Community Health Division was rebranded to Immunize El Paso. We felt that this truely captured what the the community health department's mission had evolved to. This new image has proven successful in preliminary market testing and with customers alike. Immunize El Paso has continued to partner with other agencies including the City of El Paso, Department of Public Health to assist in immunization projects across the city.
ProAction Training Center has now become ProAction Emergency Services Training after the merger with Wendy Younger's EMT*S was completed. ProAction Emergency Services Training can now compotently offer EMT-Basic through Paramedic, Hazardous Materials training, ACLS, PALS, AMLS, PHTLS, safety courses and bloodborne pathogen training.
ProAction Emergency Services, formerly ProAction Medical Team is a Texas licensed EMS first responder for El Paso County and surrounding areas. We provide medical standby and ambulance transport services at nearly all of El Paso's venues. |