About Reach Out and Read Utah

The Reach Out and Read Utah Coalition works to serve the patient population of Utah. Currently, the ROR model is practiced at clinics and health centers in seven counties (Duchesne, Iron, Salt Lake, San Juan, Tooele, Uintah, and Washington) with plans to expand into Utah County. State-wide we serve 23,694 children between the ages of six months and five years. Currently, over half of our sites serve populations living at or below the federal poverty level; a quarter of our sites have patient populations in which more than 70% live at or under the federal poverty level.

Coalition Announcements

ROR Secures State Funding

Thanks to the efforts of ROR advocate and State Representative Christine Johnson, the Reach Out and Read Utah Coalition will receive $100,000 in State funding for fiscal year 2008-2009. Since before the inception of the Utah Coalition in the fall of 2007, Rep. Johnson and ROR Medical Director Wendy Hobson-Rohrer have been working to increase State awareness of the program and ensure the means of the program's steady growth across the state. These State funds, combined with corporate and private donations, will allow ROR-UT to exceed its goal of reaching an additional 15,000 children by July 2009. Thanks to all those who rallied to lobby state Senators and Representatives on behalf of ROR-UT and those members of the Economic Development Appropriations Sub-Committee who showed early support of the program.

New Waiting Rooms for Salt Lake CHCs

With the help of Eagle Scout candidate, Scott Draper, four participating ROR-UT Community Health Centers will get a waiting room make-over this spring. By bringing in much needed child-sized chairs, tables, bookcases and rugs, along with books in both English and Spanish, Scott will help convert these waiting rooms into "cozy" reading corners intended to further promote literacy during doctor visits - part of the ROR national model.

Funding for this project comes in part from a grant through the National Education Association's Youth Leaders for Literacy Contest, part of America's Global Youth Service Days, April 25-27, 2008.

Out of 200 contestants, Scott's winning grant proposal qualified him to be one of the thirty "Youth Leaders for Literacy" to receive $500 to help fund the literacy project of his choice.

Utah Community Health Centers benefitting from this project include: Central City CHC, Oquirrh View CHC, Copperview CHC, and Steven D. Ratcliffe CHC.

Advisory Board Members

Alyson Brennen
Internal Revenue Services

Cecile Christiansen

Sarah Croskell, MD, MPH

Anna Erickson
Association for Utah Community Health

Mary Gibson, CNM, MSN
University of Utah College of Nursing

Amy Herbener, MD

Wendy Hobson Rohrer, MD, MSPH, Chair
University of Utah, Dept. of Pediatrics

Christine A. Johnson
Utah House of Representatives District 25

Janet Kaufman, PhD
University of Utah

Timothy Loftis, MBA
Morgan Stanley

Whitney Miller, RN

Amy Miner

Annabelle Numaguchi

Elizabeth Sanguinetti
Myriad Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Pamela Silberman

Michael Visick, MD
Intermountain Budge Clinic

Michelle Vo
University of Utah Health Sciences Center

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