(From left to right) CenCal Health COO, Paul Jaconette with Dr. Takashi Wada, who previously worked as the Director of the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department and as of Jan. 1, has joined the CenCal Health team as Deputy Chief Medical Officer. Courtesy photo.
SANTA BARBARA — CenCal Health hosted appreciation dinners across the region in December to thank the providers who work with the agency to provide medical care for low-income residents of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. More than 260 primary care and 1,300 specialists contract with CenCal Health.
“We’re so grateful for our provider partners that choose to work with us,” said Bob Freeman, CEO of CenCal Health. “Without them, none of what we do would be possible.”
In a recent survey, more than 99 percent of CenCal Health providers are able to offer urgent primary care visits to members within 48 hours and more than 95 percent are able to offer non-urgent primary care visits to members within 10 days.
More people locally have been seeing their primary doctor than ever before. CenCal Health now insures one in four people in Santa Barbara County and one in five people in San Luis Obispo County.
“Some local providers who work with CenCal Health are so dedicated to helping people who would otherwise go without care that they have expanded their hours or days of operation to accommodate additional people,” said Freeman.
About CenCal Health: CenCal Health provides health insurance to the largest number of people on the Central Coast, providing health coverage for approximately 20 percent of residents in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. CenCal Health coverage is accepted by the vast majority of local health providers. CenCal Health also provides education and assistance to its members in order to reduce potential health problems from chronic illness such as diabetes and asthma. For more information, visit www.cencalhealth.org. Find CenCal Health on Facebook.