National Campaign Celebrates the Key to Healthier Communities
SATURDAY — On Saturday, August 19th, Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics (SBNC) will hold a Children’s Oral Health Fair, where dentists will provide free visual exams and fluoride varnish applications. The fair will take place at Goleta Neighborhood Dental Clinic, located at 164 Kinman Avenue in Goleta, from 10:00 am until noon. Free dental gift bags, donated by Direct Relief, will also be available.
Events around the country are planned as part of National Health Center Week (NHCW). The national campaign runs August 13th-19th with the goal of raising awareness about the mission and accomplishments of community health centers like SBNC, which provides vital medical, dental and behavioral health services at six locations throughout Santa Barbara, Goleta and Isla Vista. SBNC serves over 20,000 members of our community.
The national focus for Saturday, August 19th is children’s health day, where the Children’s Oral Health Fair will focus on ensuring kids and their parents understand how important taking care of their teeth is towards their overall health.
One of the bright spots in America’s health care system, community health centers serve more than 25 million Americans, a number that continues to grow along with the demand for affordable primary care. 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;
- ? Serving more than one in six Medicaid beneficiaries for less than two percent of the national Medicaid budget
Health centers not only prevent illness and foster wellness in the most challenging populations, they produce innovative solutions to the most pressing health care 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 opioid addiction. Because of their long record of success in innovation, managing health care costs, and reducing chronic disease, health centers have a proud tradition of bipartisan support in Congress.
For more information about SBNC, please visit www.sbclinics.org. To see more information about our National Health Center Week Events, visit our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/sbclinics.