Saban Community Clinic Recognizes National Health Center Week

In recognition of National Health Center Week (NHCW), August 7 – 13, Saban Community Clinic will implement two-patient focused activities at its three health centers in the Hollywood and Los Angeles area in an effort to help raise awareness of the important work and accomplishments of America’s Health Centers.

The Clinic is implementing an education campaign on health plans to help patients increase their understanding of health coverage and be informed when enrolling. With their visit, patients will receive a Health Plana 101 informational brochure.

On Wednesday, August 10, the Clinic will connect with people experiencing homelessness to support NHCW’s “Health Care for the Homeless” theme day. The Clinic will provide its homeless patients/visitors with a kit containing first-aid kits, hand sanitizers and a condom to promote health and hygiene.

“As a health center, our role is not only to prevent illness and foster wellness in the community but to also keep our patients informed on health care items that affect them,” said Julie Hudman, CEO of Saban Community Clinic. “The Health Plans 101 campaign helps patients understand what their options are to access full medical services.”

One of the bright spots in America’s healthcare 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 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.