Centerville Clinics, Cornerstone Care, Washington Health System and McCracken Pharmacy celebrated National Health Center Week with several events last week, including a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Cornerstone Care Community Vision and Eye Health Center in Waynesburg.
National Health Centers Week, an annual event that aims to{span} create awareness of the mission and accomplishments of American health centers in providing affordable preventive and primary care services over the past five decades, was held August 7-12.
Health centers provide health care services to nearly 30 million people each year who disproportionately suffer from chronic diseases and lack access to affordable, quality care.
Community health centers have also played a critical role throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and National Health Center Week 2022 honored frontline providers, staff and patients who lost their lives. during the pandemic.
“Now is a time for us to recognize and honor the work Community Health Centers do in our country and locally,” said Donna Simpson, Director of Communications, Outreach and Outreach for the Centers. Community Health Center Cornerstone Care. “An important part of the celebration was to thank our workers and employees who worked during the pandemic and worked all the time when other places were closed. We thank them and want to honor the work they do.
The week culminated with a series of events on August 12 that included a keynote address by motivational speaker Dr. Jeffrey Morris and an employee luncheon.
Richard Rhinehart, CEO of Cornerstone Care, was pleased to unveil the Vision and Eye Health Center, located across from WHS-Greene at 1150 Seventh St.
The center offers comprehensive routine eye care services, including pediatric eye exams.
“We’ve seen the need for people to have better access to eye care for many years, so we’re thrilled about that,” Rinehart said, stressing the importance of addressing eye care in healthcare. general health.
For example, an annual retinal exam plays an important role in diabetes management, Rinehart said.
“Diabetes, like other diseases, has a standard of care, how to treat this disease. For diabetes, this includes controlling blood pressure, taking certain medications, and having an annual retinal exam, because diabetes attacks every part of your body, including your eyesight,” Rinehart explained. “We did a great job of diabetes care and we would score high on all the standards, but we couldn’t get people to pass. eye exams to manage their diabetes. The idea of having it in-house to make it easier for people, without worrying about the cost, was a compelling thing for us.”
The mission of community health centers — to meet the healthcare needs of everyone, including medically vulnerable people such as veterans and the homeless — remains crucial, Rinehart said.
He doesn’t want people ending up in the emergency room with health issues that haven’t been treated in years because they were afraid they couldn’t afford to go to the doctor for preventative care.
“I say community means everyone, whether you have enough money or not. No one should be denied health care for lack of ability to pay,” Rinehart said. “We have people who come to us who have choices, who have the best health insurance and they come to us for the quality of care and providers, and we have others who have little or no We don’t turn anyone away because of barriers – whether it’s money, health insurance, transportation, education and literacy – and you won’t be marginalized for who you are, what it’s gender, ethnicity, orientation. We try to make it accessible and affordable.
