This program provides a means by which AAFP members can donate funds to colleagues who are disadvantaged by a disaster. It provides support to family physicians who have undergone uninsured losses to their medical practices and/or who need help to get their practices up and running again in a time of crisis.
Grants will be awarded to assist in the repair and rebuilding process. Grant amounts range up to $2,000 and will be reviewed and approved by the AAFP Foundation Board of Trustees. Grant applications are received throughout the year. If you need assistance, please complete the Disaster Assistance Application and submit electronically to Phyllis Naragon.
If you'd like to help those in need, please donate and indicate the Disaster Assistance Program.
Disaster Assistance Program
2011 Tornado Devastates Community
The Midwest was hit with violent storms on a Sunday afternoon in May and Joplin, MO was caught right in the center of a deadly tornado. The tornado ripped through the town of 49,000, all of whom were impacted in some way from the devastation. More than 150 individuals lost their lives.
Dr. Cynthia Croy, an AAFP Member and Joplin resident, was able to talk about some of the devastation that impacted her practice. Dr. Croy's practice is the recipient of a 2011 Disaster Assistance Grant from the AAFP Foundation.
It was thanks to their Electronic Medical Record system and an offsite backup that they we were able to start seeing patients in a temporary office on Wednesday morning, following the Sunday tornado. The office staff and doctors began using personal cell phones to communicate with patients; and with the e-prescribing offline, Dr. Croy had to re-learn how to hand-write scripts. In August, Dr. Croy will be moving her practice to a more semi-permanent location until the rebuilding of Joplin is complete.
On a personal note, Dr. Croy shared that her office building was demolished the last week of June, and her sons are headed back to high school this fall in an empty department store at the mall. She said “life in Joplin is slowly starting back, but will not be to the ‘new normal’ for a while.”
Dr. Cynthia Croy, an AAFP Member and Joplin resident, was able to talk about some of the devastation that impacted her practice. Dr. Croy's practice is the recipient of a 2011 Disaster Assistance Grant from the AAFP Foundation.
It was thanks to their Electronic Medical Record system and an offsite backup that they we were able to start seeing patients in a temporary office on Wednesday morning, following the Sunday tornado. The office staff and doctors began using personal cell phones to communicate with patients; and with the e-prescribing offline, Dr. Croy had to re-learn how to hand-write scripts. In August, Dr. Croy will be moving her practice to a more semi-permanent location until the rebuilding of Joplin is complete.
On a personal note, Dr. Croy shared that her office building was demolished the last week of June, and her sons are headed back to high school this fall in an empty department store at the mall. She said “life in Joplin is slowly starting back, but will not be to the ‘new normal’ for a while.”
2008 Disaster Assistance Recipient
-- Find out about the Dr. Emejulu's clinic in Texas and the natural disaster that struck.
Copyright © 2011 American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation
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