Health Alliance for Austin Musicians

Visit www.HealthAllianceForAustinMusicians.org

“I was on tour playing drums for a Texas country artist and took a fall off the stage as I was moving my gear. Because of the nature of the fall, my hip took the brunt of it. I continued to gig for over a month thinking it was just a sprain. It got to the point where I couldn’t walk because the pain was so bad. Dr. Risinger at Seton Topfer saw me immediately and helped me get to an orthopedist, who determined I was suffering from osteonecrosis; my hip bone was dying. I needed a full hip replacement. This process required a lot of navigation, and Jennifer at the HAAM office was there for me all along. She really went to bat for me. Thanks to HAAM, Seton Family of Hospitals and all my doctors, including Dr. David Dogin, I will be rockin’ for years to come!”

— HAAM member-musician Keith Slack

The mission of Health Alliance for Austin Musicians is to provide access to affordable healthcare services to Austin’s low-income, uninsured, working musicians, with a focus on prevention and wellness.

• Services offered through HAAM and its affiliate service providers:

Eligibility, enrollment and renewal through HAAM
Primary medical care through Seton Family of Hospitals
Basic dental care through St. David’s Foundation
Mental health counseling and addiction-recovery services through The SIMS Foundation
Hearing health through Estes Audiology
Vision health through Prevent Blindness Texas

• Since its inception in 2005, Health Alliance for Austin Musicians has:
• Served more than 2,400 members-musicians (1,698 in 2010).
• Retained a 95 percent approval rating from member-musicians for quality of care and services.
• Organized in 2009 a program with Estes Audiology, called The HEAR Project, to educate, screen and fit member-musicians with custom earplugs. In 2010, 320 member-musicians were served.
• Created a program in 2010 with Prevent Blindness Texas — The SEE Project — to provide eye exams and glasses to member-musicians. During the pilot in June 2010, 173 were served.

• Services delivered in 2010:
• More than 10,000 clinic visits; specialist referrals; hospital services (outpatient, inpatient and emergency room procedures); dental visits; counseling, psychiatric and addiction-recovery sessions; vision care appointments; and audiology appointments through Seton Family of Hospitals, St. David’s Foundation, The SIMS Foundation, Prevent Blindness Texas and Estes Audiology.

• Membership in Health Alliance for Austin Musicians is diverse:
• 81 percent of members earn less than $16,000 a year.
• 66 percent of members are 40 years old or younger.
• Members work in all music genres including rock, jazz, classical, country, Tejano and blues.

• 6th HAAM Benefit Day to be held Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2011
• Businesses large and small pledge proceeds or make donations.
• Residents eat out, shop and patronize participating businesses or make donations. 
• Scores of musicians (most of who are enrolled in HAAM) play at venues throughout the city. 
• 5th HAAM Benefit Day raised $195,000.

• More than 8,000 Austin musicians give the city its rhythm and heartbeat and drive the local economy to the tune of:
• Nearly $1 billion in economic activity, more than $25 million in local tax revenue each year
  11,200 jobs
• Millions of dollars added to the city's economy and tens of thousands of visitors from around the world brought annually by Austin City Limits Music
• Festival and South By Southwest Music Festival & Media Conference

Health Alliance Fact Sheet

• About Health Alliance for Austin Musicians’ Affiliate Service Providers:

  Seton Family of Hospitals provides primary medical care through Seton Community Health Centers, established to offer health care and social services to working and uninsured families in Central Texas. The centers are a medical home for community members who would not otherwise have access to health care as well as member-musicians of Health Alliance for Austin Musicians.

  For more information, visit www.seton.net.

  St. David's Foundation provides dental care through the St. David's Dental Program, which includes one of the largest fleets of mobile dental clinics in the country. The program serves elementary-age schoolchildren at Title I schools as well as HAAM member-musicians and low-income adults at area safety-net clinics.

  For more information, visit www.stdavidsfoundation.org/dental.

  The SIMS Foundation, founded in 1995, provides access to and financial support for mental health and addiction-recovery services for Austin-area musicians and their families. Through staff clinicians and a network of 60 therapists and treatment centers, SIMS serves more than 600 clients a year.

  For more information, visit www.simsfoundation.org.

• The work of HAAM is ongoing. To continue to serve the healthcare needs of low-income, uninsured, working musicians, community donations are essential. Donations can be made at www.myhaam.org or by check to Health Alliance for Austin Musicians and mailed to Health Alliance for Austin Musicians P.O. Box 301496 Austin, TX 78703.

Membership application and information are available at www.HealthAllianceForAustinMusicians.org and www.myhaam.org.

Health Alliance for Austin Musicians Board of Directors

Chris Adams, partner, Maxwell Locke & Ritter LLP
Lidia Agraz, principal, Punta Reyes Properties
Karen Bartoletti, shareholder, Graves Dougherty Hearon & Moody
Ray Benson, musician-producer, Asleep at the Wheel
Lisa Hickey, director of marketing, C3 Presents
John T. Kunz, president, Waterloo Records & Video
Earl Maxwell, chief executive officer, St. David’s Foundation
Diana Resnik, senior vice president, Community Care, Seton Family of Hospitals
Edward Safady, chairman, Central Texas area, Prosperity Bank
Tim Taylor, partner, Jackson Walker LLP
Richard Topfer, Topfer Family Foundation, and managing director, Castletop Capital
Madge Vasquez, director of operations, Dental Program, St. David's Foundation
Liz Watson, community leader and mother
Howard Yancy, principal, Zydeco Development

Contacts:
Jill McGuckin, McGuckin Entertainment PR, 512.217.9404; jill@mcguckinpr.com
Carolyn Schwarz, executive director, Health Alliance for Austin Musicians, 512.324.3414; cschwarz@healthallianceforaustinmusicians.org
Carl McQueary, Seton Family of Hospitals, 512.324.5829; cmcqueary@seton.org
Lisa Trahan, St. David’s Foundation, 512.879.6612; ltrahan@stdavidsfoundation.org         
Tricia Forbes, The SIMS Foundation, 512.472.1008; triciaforbes@simsfoundation.org