Health Plus - Health Plus And Lutheran Medical Center Host "Halloween Bash" For Community's Children

For Immediate Release

Health Plus And Lutheran Medical Center Host "Halloween Bash" For Community's Children
Two Pillars Of Sunset Park Community Provide Safe Alternative To Trick-Or-Treating For Local Children

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Brooklyn, NY - November 4, 2003 — How did the children of Sunset Park spend their Halloween? If they were one of the 500 children who dressed up in masquerade and attended Health Plus's "Halloween Bash" at Lutheran Medical Center, they participated in a safe alternative to traditional trick-or-treating.

Lutheran Medical Center and Health Plus are synonymous with guardian angels, particularly when it comes to the Sunset Park community. Both of these organizations have been there for the community's health needs for many years. Lutheran Medical Center began as a small hospital founded in 1883 by Sister Elisabeth Fedde to serve the Norwegian immigrant community and now has grown into a 476-bed comprehensive community-based health system - one that started Medicaid managed care organization Health Plus in 1984 to provide free and affordable health insurance. This helps explain why these companies partnered this year to host a safe Halloween event for the neighborhood's children, further proving their devotion to the health and safety of the south-west Brooklyn community.

"It's important that there is a safe place for children to come celebrate Halloween, rather than lose the holiday to the night," says Wendy Z. Goldstein, President and Chief Executive Officer for Lutheran Medical Center. "That's why we are proud to offer a safe Halloween destination for children in neighborhoods where the parents might not feel comfortable having their son's and daughters roaming the streets."

The Halloween bash included games, candy, costume contests, free photo-sessions, and free rides for the children. Free gift bags, which included Halloween reflective bracelets, mini-strobe lights, and safety flashlights, were given out at the event. The organizations also offered Halloween safety tips to parents, another sign of their commitment to the safety of Sunset Park's youngsters.

"Sponge Bob Square Pants" and the "Amazing Spiderman" were on hand to dazzle the children. Additionally, Lutheran Medical Center even had a room in its hospital transformed into a haunted house to scare (and delight!) all children brave enough to enter.

"Children in the city are entitled to a happy and safe Halloween just as much as children in the suburbs are," says Ada Rodriguez, Chief Marketing Officer at Health Plus. "Health Plus and Lutheran Medical Center are committed to providing the children in our communities with access to the safe, happy, and healthy childhood they deserve."

A brightly colored clown paints a young boy's face at Health Plus and Lutheran Medical Center's Halloween Bash

(From left to right) Lutheran Medical Center's C.O.O. and Executive Vice President Claudia Caine, President and C.E.O. Wendy Z. Goldstein, Chief Marketing Officer for Health Plus Ada Rodriguez, and Dinah Surh, Vice President for Operations at Family Healt

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Health Plus, a not-for-profit, multi-cultural organization, is one of the fastest growing managed care organizations in New York City. It was established in 1984 with a commitment to provide coordinated quality health care and improving access to health care for uninsured and underserved families. In its annual review of managed care plans, the New York State Department of Health ranked Health Plus as the top plan for quality in its 2002 and 2003 "Consumer's Guide to Medicaid Managed Care in New York City." Health Plus is New York City's leading provider of Child Health Plus, a New York State Department of Health program that offers parents FREE or low-cost health insurance for children under the age of 19. "CRAIN'S New York Business" magazine ranked Health Plus fifth among the largest health maintenance organizations in the New York area.