You can also sign up for our reminder program, and we’ll send you a reminder to order. You can sign up for the program on our website. 

Pharmacy Closings (A pharmacist will be on call for emergencies.)
May 25 – Memorial Day

The lovely spring weather added to the enjoyment of the weekend surrounded by the lake and the beautiful campgrounds! After families arrived, settled in, and enjoyed dinner together, they were able to spend some time familiarizing themselves with the campgrounds, making smores, and playing some fun trivia games while gathered around the campfire. After the sun went down and bedtime was nearing, families could head to their cabins or wind down with a movie under the amazing night sky!

Each morning, families were able to begin their day by fishing on the lake or taking a relaxing nature walk. After breakfast on Saturday, families participated in two hours of interactive education. Everyone gathered in the gym for a session with Dr. Cox who spoke about the importance of physical therapy and staying active for someone with a bleeding disorder. This conversation included time for questions and group exercises. Next, moms stayed in the gym for a conversation with Dr. Thaxton about the importance of caring for yourself so you can better care for others. Meanwhile, the rest of the camp engaged in fun activities with their HoG buddies around camp and discussed ways that activities can be modified to be safer for people with bleeding disorders.

After lunch, families had a great time participating in fun activities such as boating, rock climbing, ziplining, horseback riding, arts & crafts, archery, lawn games, or just chilling in the hammock village that HoG staff built! These are just a few of the many educational, empowering, and often life-changing offerings that are provided at Family Camp! Sunday morning, we wrapped up a fantastic weekend with breakfast and some more fun family activities around camp!

It was an exciting and successful weekend! A huge shout-out and thank you to all the volunteers and staff who came out to support family camp! Because of all of you, our families had a fabulous weekend learning, bonding, and engaging with the community. We could not do it without all your support!

• Personalized care through Medication Therapy Management Pharmacists
• Routine assessments
• Insurance coordination to decrease the financial burden to our patients
• Access to our specialized pharmacists and medication services, plus a 24/7 after hour on call hotline
• Spanish speaking staff available (Personal que habla español disponible)
• Prescription reminder program and printable treatment calendars
• Free safety and prevention products such as helmets and knee pads
• FedEx priority overnight shipping to home or office
• Pharmaceutical recall notifications
• Ordering online is so easy!
• Hemophilia of Georgia is a Medicare and Medicaid provider and has contracts with many private insurance companies and our insurance billing services staff helps patients understand their insurance coverage and works closely with patients and their insurance companies.
• Hemophilia of Georgia administers a federal 340B program that allows us to purchase bleeding disorder medications at a lower cost. We utilize those savings to provide programs and clinical services to the bleeding disorder community. Bottom line: medications purchased through our pharmacies allow us to give back and serve the community better. It is that simple!

 
Our pharmacies are dually accredited by URAC and the ACHC and we take great pride in providing the very best care possible. We are continually enhancing and adapting our services to meet the needs of the bleeding disorder community. We know it takes more than medicine to care for our patients and keep them healthy. We look forward to serving you!

Camp Wannaklot is a weeklong summer camp dedicated to youth ages 7–17 who have a bleeding disorder and is held at Camp Twin Lakes Will A Way. Throughout the week, we’ll dive into a mix of fun and enriching activities including swimming, archery, climbing, pottery, cooking, fishing, crafts, bleeding disorder education, and more. Each day offers a new chance to create memories, build confidence, and form meaningful bonds with campers, volunteers, and staff.

Sign up to volunteer today and help us turn Camp Wannaklot into a true paradise for children living with a bleeding disorder!

When: June 7-12, 2026; Camp will start for volunteers on June 6, 2025.
Where: Camp Will-A-Way in Winder, GA
Sign-up by May 17th:  www.hog.org/paradise 

Together, we raised over $75,000 for bleeding disorder research! Once again, thank you to our golfers, volunteers, partners, and staff for making this event happen seamlessly.

A big THANK YOU to our many corporate sponsors for their continued partnership and support:
Ameris Bank

Bayer Healthcare

Brown & Co. Jewelers

CSL Behring

Focused Financial Group

Gallagher

HEMA Biologics

Kennesaw Business Association

Merrill Lynch

Nelson Mullins

Novo Nordisk

Octapharma

Sanofi

The Grant Partners

Smith Gambrell & Russell

Takeda

SK Commercial Realty

Zurn Plumbing Service

While our celebration of this important profession is in May, every day is a great day to celebrate nurses and show them our appreciation! This year’s theme for International Nurses Day is “Our Nurses. Our Future. Empowered Nurses Save Lives,” This theme underscores how crucial nurses are in delivering trusted, compassionate primary care that improves patient outcomes and helps health systems respond to the world’s most pressing health issues. We appreciate everything that Hemophilia of Georgia Nurses do every day and want to express our love and support for everything they do for our community!  

A big shout out to HoG’s amazing nursing staff: Stephanie Matz, Vice President of Clinical Services; Jennifer Crabbe, Director of Nursing; Rebecca Babkiewicz, Director of Telehealth; Courtney Gustin, Clinical Coordinator; and our AMAZING team of Outreach Nurses: Katrina Bennett, Alicia Casucci, Karen Clark, Amen Detti, Theresa Knapp, Hollie Macenczak, and Shelby Stroughter. Additionally, we celebrate Julie Hayman, Vice President of Payer Relations and Revenue Cycle, who is a registered nurse.

In addition to telehealth, our group advocated to protect and fund the federal health programs that support research, public health surveillance, and comprehensive care at Hemophilia Treatment Centers. Federal bleeding disorder programs within the CDC and HRSA provide critical funding that support specialized care teams, research, and public health monitoring, all of which directly impact quality of life for those with bleeding disorders. Our delegation also urged lawmakers to support the Help Ensure Lower Patient (HELP) Copays Act to end insurer practices, such as copay accumulator adjustment programs, that harm people who rely on specialty medications by preventing copay assistance from counting toward their deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums.

HoG also advocated for the FED UP with Bleeding Disorders Act, which aims to improve recognition, diagnosis, and support for underserved populations—particularly women—whose bleeding disorders often go unnoticed or misunderstood.

Personal stories carry profound weight in swaying congressional action. If you or your family have encountered challenges due to copay accumulator programs, please reach out to Hemophilia of Georgia's Senior Director of Advocacy, Michelle Conde, at maconde@hog.org. Sharing personal experiences is instrumental in compelling lawmakers to enact meaningful change.

Teens concluded the weekend by providing feedback about their experiences. They loved getting to connect with their peers in the HoG community, trying new experiences, and gaining valuable education they can carry with them for the future.

If you have questions about HoG’s teen programs, please reach out to Kristi Fulford Director of Camp and Client Events at kffulford@hog.org or 770-518-8272.

• Donate to our Bleeding Disorders Awareness Month or World Hemophilia Day campaign to support global aid efforts.
• Share your story on social media using hashtags like #BleedingDisordersAwareness, #BDAM, and #Hemophilia. Tag us so we can amplify your voice!
• Engage with HoG’s posts on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and X (formerly Twitter).

 
By raising awareness and bringing bleeding disorders to the attention of policymakers, we can increase access to care and treatment. These global efforts are only possible because of generous donations from supporters like you.
 
Let’s come together this March and April to make a difference. Donate, share, and spread the word!

You must meet the following requirements to be eligible for the program:

• Applicants must be an HoG patient who has hemophilia, von Willebrand Disease, or another bleeding disorder. You may also be a child of a parent who died from complications of a bleeding disorder and who was a patient of HoG.
• Applicants must reside in Georgia AND have been a permanent resident of Georgia for one year.  
• Applicants must have a GPA of at least 2.5.
• Applicants must be enrolled in an accredited college, university, vocational, technical, or professional degree program OR be accepted by an accredited college, university, vocational, technical, or professional degree program.

Scholarship recipients must agree to volunteer for a minimum of 12 hours with HoG or other approved organization. This requirement must be completed by May 31, 2027.
 
For more information, call 770-518-8272 or email Emily Brown at ekbrown@hog.org

Please don’t wait to pre-qualify!

Once you are pre-qualified you have until April 30 to complete the online application. 

Cabins will participate in exciting activities each day.  During the week, campers will get to experience programming that is centered around education, community building and experiencing new adventures. Each evening, we will wrap up our day with an all-camp activity and time for reflections on their day. Registration will be open in early March. If you have questions, please call Kristi Fulford at 770-518-8272, ext. 330 or via email at kffulford@hog.org.

Attention volunteers: We can’t host camp without you! Camp will start for volunteers on June 6, 2026.  We are looking for dedicated volunteers to help us this summer! 
If you have questions, please call Tori Josselson at 770-518-8272, ext. 333 or via email at thjosselson@hog.org.

1. Any time you have an insurance change, call the HoG pharmacy to give us your new insurance information. If you receive a new card in the mail, that is a good indication your plan has changed.
2. Be cautious of any insurance brokers who may try to get you to change your plan. They might switch you to a plan that is not accepted by all your providers.
3. Know your out-of-pocket costs for your insurance plan. Always check your medical bills to make sure your insurance was sent the bill.
4. Enroll in flexible spending money benefits with your job if that is offered.
5. Ask for help if you need it.

 
Your Hemophilia of Georgia Outreach Social Worker can help you understand your benefits and offer guidance to help you stay insured. If you have questions, please contact your Social Worker or contact Emily Brown, Director of Social Work, at 770-518-8272.

Social workers play a critical role in advocating for and helping our patients to live better lives. Hemophilia of Georgia provides social work services to every patient, no matter their diagnosis. HoG social workers assess the individual’s needs and provide services and programs to help. Our social workers:

• Provide education about health insurance, including how to obtain insurance and programs that can assist with premium payments
• Provide education about HoG financial support programs, including preventive dental, educational success, and professional development
• Provide referrals to community resources for financial or social support
• Provide education, information, and suggest skills to use for those experiencing needle aversion
• Assist young adults with the transition from pediatric to adult healthcare
• Identify and remove barriers to ensure people use their medication as prescribed

We appreciate and value the contributions of our social workers as part of our comprehensive, compassionate, and patient-centered services. If you do not know who your assigned social worker is, please call 770-518-8272.

If you need assistance, Georgia Access Assisters are available to help you understand your options for coverage. Assisters are trained by Georgia Access to help consumers, especially those in underserved communities, understand their benefits and rights, review options, and enroll in Marketplace coverage. Assisters can be found on the Georgia Access website under "Resources & Support." Your HoG social worker is also available to provide you with education to help you find the plan that best meets your needs. However, your HoG social worker cannot make specific recommendations on which plan you should buy.

Premiums for marketplace plans are expected to increase significantly this year. Some plan premiums may increase as much as 40%. We suggest researching plans early. People with a bleeding disorder typically reach their deductible early in the year due to their expensive medications.  They should pay close attention to deductibles as well as in-network coverage for Hemophilia Treatment Centers (HTCs).  Individuals with bleeding disorders should also avoid emergency only plans with high deductibles. 

Finding a hematologist can be tricky. Be sure to find a doctor that works with an HTC. Other specialists will have little experience with hemophilia. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that people who get care at an HTC live longer and have fewer problems with their bleeding disorder. For questions about enrollment and finding an HTC near you, you can call Hemophilia of Georgia at 770-518-8272.

• Protection: Prevent further injury by immobilizing the area or using crutches.
• Rest: Rest and protect the sore area. Take a break from any activity that may cause pain.
• Ice: Apply something cold to reduce pain and swelling.
• Compression: Wrap the area with an elastic bandage, such as an Ace bandage wrap, to reduce swelling.
• Elevation: Keep the area in pain at or above the level of your heart to reduce swelling.

Why Ice?

Treating injuries often requires applying either ice or heat. Why is ice recommended for a bleed? Ice shrinks the blood vessels, slows blood flow to the area, and helps the body to heal. Heat, on the other hand, increases blood flow. When treating a bleed, always use ice.

Ice can be much more than frozen water, however. Here are a few additional ways you can apply “ice” to a bleed:

• Use a bag of frozen peas
• Ice packs (instant and gel packs)
• Ice tape

Hemophilia of Georgia’s Pharmacy offers a product called “Instant Ice Wrap”, a compression wrap that cools by evaporation. It works great for bleeds because it can wrap around the entire joint, and it is reusable. Contact us at 770-518-8272 for the HoG Pharmacy or 770-709-0124 for the Beacon Pharmacy to learn more.

Register today: www.hog.org/golf