By: Katy Maggart—
Muncie, IN – Open Door Health Services is excited to be celebrating National Health Center Week (NHCW). The national campaign runs August 13-19th with the goal of raising awareness about the mission and accomplishments of America’s Health Centers over the course of more than five decades.
Open Door plans to celebrate by hosting several community events during that week. These events include car seat checks, Farmer’s Market, and a health fair.
Open Door is partnering with SafeKids to provide a car seat check clinic on August 14th from 1-3pm. Parents can pull their cars up and have their car seats checked to make sure they are being used properly. They will also receive car seat safety information.
Open Door, along with WIC, will be hosting a famers market August 15, 16, and 17th from 11am – 2pm. Community members are encouraged to come purchase fresh produce, such as tomatoes, peppers, onions, and watermelon. The farmers market is also a great way to support local farmers.
The health fair will be August 17th from 12-2pm. It will include blood pressure checks, healthy food demonstrations, health information from organizations throughout the community, and an opportunity to visit the Farmer’s Market. Community members can come to learn more about their health, and ways to improve it through healthy eating and exercise.
All of these events are FREE and open to the public. They are located at 333 S. Madison St. in Muncie. Open Door would like to invite everyone to come celebrate National Health Center Week.
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 not only prevent illness and foster wellness in the most challenging populations, they produce innovative solutions to the most pressing healthcare 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 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.
To learn more about NHCW and the listing of events please visit: www.healthcenterweek.org or www.opendoorhs.org
You can also follow the conversation using #NHCW17 or #CHCsInnovate on Twitter.
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