LANSING — At the Michigan Primary Care Association’s (MPCA) 34th annual awards ceremony Aug. 6, the non-profit association representing Michigan Health Centers honored Dowagiac Daily News community editor John Eby with the 2013 Faces of Michigan Health Care Media Award.

This award recognizes a journalist or reporter who, through accurate reporting, has helped raise the visibility of Health Centers, issues facing the medically underserved and the critical need for access to quality, comprehensive, affordable health care across the state.

John Eby

“If you’re talking about ‘community,’ then John Eby is who you want reporting,” said Kim Sibilsky, chief executive officer, Michigan Primary Care Association.

“He has been a long-time friend to Cassopolis Family Clinic, and a vital partner in insuring that residents of Cass County are aware of the affordable primary and preventive health care that the Health Center offers for everyone in the community.”

Cassopolis Family Clinic provides quality, affordable primary and preventive health care to residents of Cass County and southeastern Berrien County.

It is one of Michigan’s 35 Health Center organizations that together operate more than 220 sites across the state, providing care to more than 600,000 patients each year regardless of insurance status or income.

Michigan Health Centers are part of a nationwide network of Health Centers that serve the primary health care needs of more than 22 million individuals in more than 9,000 locations from coast to coast.

Health Center services are tailored to meet the unique needs of communities, providing primary care, dental care, behavioral health care and pharmacy services, as well as services that help patients overcome barriers to accessing health care, such as transportation and translation.

They are also sources of local jobs, employing more than 189,000 staff nationwide, and they generate tremendous economic benefits for the communities they serve.

MPCA has been the voice for Health Centers and other community-based providers in Michigan since 1980, the year Eby first came to his hometown paper.

He has been a journalist since 1979 in Cass, Berrien and St. Joseph counties.

Past winners

2010 — Tarryl Jackson, Jackson Citizen Patriot

2011 — Julie Swidwa, Benton Harbor Herald-Palladium

2012 — Patricia Anstett and Robin Erb, medical writers, Detroit Free Press