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The Honorable Will Wynn, Austin Mayor, announces October 2, 2007, as 2nd HAAM Benefit Day with support of (l to r): Donna Butler, director of marketing, The Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort & Spa, Bastrop; Ashton Cumberbatch, VP industry & governmental relations, Seton Family of Hospitals; Dick Moeller, CEO, St. David’s Community Health Foundation; Edward Safady, Austin-area chairman, Prosperity Bank, and secretary of HAAM Board of Directors; country singer-songwriter Jessie Lee Miller, HAAM member-musician; and Lorin Jameson, Sony Online Entertainment
3,000 x 1,995 px

For Immediate Release
Nov. 28, 2005

HEALTH ALLIANCE FOR AUSTIN MUSICIANS
GEARING UP FOR NEW YEAR, MORE SERVICES

Members' Dental Needs to be Met in December with Concentrated Care

(Austin, Texas) -- On any night in Austin, the sound of live music spills out of hundreds of venues. Rock, classical, country, jazz, traditional Mexican, blues, salsa: Somewhere it is being played for an appreciative audience by local professional musicians who are passionate about doing what they love, but because they're self-employed and uninsured they often struggle to find affordable health care.

As enrollment in the 7-month-old Health Alliance for Austin Musicians, or HAAM, continues to grow past 350 members and the demand for dental services grows along with the number of members, St. David's Community Health Foundation has increased its offer to provide free basic and preventive dental services beyond its original summertime commitment.

Two of St. David's dental vans will be parked for a week in December -- by appointment, December 16-22 -- at Ruta Maya Coffeehouse, 3601 S. Congress Ave., to serve as many HAAM members as possible. Additionally, the dental program is serving HAAM members a half-day a week during the school year, and dental service will resume at full capacity next summer.

To ensure that services provided through HAAM keep up with the demand by local musicians, the group's board of directors has begun asking community members, members of those appreciative audiences, to donate to the group's cause. It will ask music lovers to become HAAM Founding Sponsors so the organization can increase its capacity to offer more health options to the city's music makers. Those who respond to the challenge will be honored at a special sponsors' event in mid-January.

Services being offered through HAAM include primary medical care through SETON Healthcare Network, basic and preventive dental services through St. David's Community Health Foundation, and low-cost mental-health counseling through the SIMS Foundation. A recent anonymous survey of HAAM members showed that 96 percent of respondents rated services by SETON, St. David's and SIMS as good, very good or excellent.

Seventy percent of HAAM members have undergone a medical exam at a SETON Community Health Clinic since mid-April, exemplifying the group's goal of prevention and wellness. With more than 50 percent of HAAM members 35 years old and younger, HAAM works to address health issues before they become serious concerns.

Says Austin singer-songwriter Rachel Loy: "I think my mom is happier about this than me! I know musicians who take day jobs so that they can get benefits, but their music suffers because of it. By offering me this opportunity through the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians, you are helping me to move my music career forward much faster. As musicians, we are really a lot like a small business where we have to put everything into it, so [HAAM] enables me to put all the time I need to into my career. When I got enrolled in HAAM, I felt giddy for weeks!"

At the SIMS Foundation, where requests by musicians for services are up more than 50 percent over last year, services have resumed after a brief interruption. SIMS has implemented a plan to ensure all HAAM clients, once authorized, will receive uninterrupted services. Austin's KGSR-FM (107.1) will continue to help underwrite SIMS with special CD sales.

In addition, a list of licensed alternative care providers such as acupuncturists and massage therapists who offer services to musicians at reduced prices is being compiled for HAAM members. The Academy of Oriental Medicine at Austin's White Crane location on South Congress Avenue offers $15 acupuncture sessions on Thursdays to members who present their HAAM cards.

SETON, St. David's and SIMS are already planning for next year and reaching HAAM's 2006 benchmark of providing services for its first 500 musician-members. And somewhere tonight an Austin musician is practicing his or her passion, playing to a packed house, and feeling great because of HAAM.

For HAAM enrollment and services, call 512.322.5177; for more information or to make a donation, visit www.healthallianceforaustinmusicians.org.

Contacts:
Jill McGuckin, McGuckin Entertainment PR, 512.217.9404 cell; jill@mcguckinpr.com
Carolyn Schwarz, director of HAAM Services, 512.324.8976; cschwarz@seton.org