Sites are community solutions
HOULTON — Hundreds of events around the country were recently planned as part of National Health Center Week (NHCW). The national campaign ran Aug. 7-13 with the goal of raising awareness about the mission and accomplishments of America’s health centers over the course of more than five decades.
One of the bright spots in America’s health care system, health centers started over 50 years ago as a pilot project during President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty. Today, they have compiled a significant record of success that includes:
– Producing $24 billion in annual health system savings
– Reducing unnecessary hospitalizations and unnecessary visits to the emergency room
– Treating patients for a fraction of the average cost of one emergency room visit
– Maintaining patient satisfaction levels of nearly 100 percent
– Generating $26.5 billion in economic activity and over 230,000 jobs
– Reducing infant mortality rates
Health centers not only prevent illness and foster wellness in the most challenging populations, they produce innovative solutions to the most pressing healthcare issues in their communities. They reach beyond the walls of conventional medicine to address the factors that may cause sickness, such as lack of nutrition, mental illness, homelessness and addiction. Because of their long record of success in innovation, managing healthcare costs, and reducing chronic disease, leaders in Congress have declared health centers a model of care that offers a “bipartisan solution to the primary care access problems” facing our nation.
Katahdin Valley Health Center celebrated National Health Center Week with events every day of the week at each of its health centers located in Patten, Houlton, Millinocket, Brownville, and Ashland. Those events included free screenings, free dental cleanings, educational seminars, and a mobile device tutorial to help community members learn how to use their smartphones and other mobile devices to access our free online services.
