A couple of weeks ago I told you about additional services that were being added to our monthly first Friday hosting of the Emergency Dental Van. I mentioned that effective August 2nd we would be working closely with additional groups in an effort to better serve the community. As has been the case for the last 18 months, Medical Teams International brought their emergency dental services van. They were joined by a mobile mammography van provided by Tuality Health Services; Virginia Garcia Health Clinic provided a representative to renew or enroll people in the Oregon Health Plan. The intent was to create an environment in which people would have easy access to these critical services; come for one and utilize the others. I am pleased to say it worked!
Twelve people were treated by the dental van. That was a large number of patients and alone would have made the event a success. However, when informed of the other services available, at least two of them enrolled in the Oregon Health plan and a third utilized the mammography van. None of this would have happened without all of these services being together.
In addition to the twelve served by the dental van, a total of seven people enrolled in the Oregon Health Plan. By taking this step, these individuals gain access to basic health care services which will improve not only the quality of their lives, but reduce overall costs to the health care system. A true win-win!
Finally, while we only had one person utilize the mammography van (there was a miscommunication with the organization that was scheduling appointments), that person again demonstrated the power of bringing these services together. With the communication issue resolved, I am confident the van will see far more patients next month.
September 6th is our next Health Services Alliance event. In addition to the above services we will also have the Lion’s Club here who will offer vision, glaucoma and glucose testing. If you, or anyone you know could utilize ANY of these services, feel free to contact me for more information. Walk-ins are welcome for all services except the dental van and all will be available from 8:30am until 2:00pm in the Fireside Room.