Photo courtesy of Neighborhood Healthcare
The whole person is taken into account at this clinic
With a mission to provide health care for everyone, Neighborhood Healthcare offers quality, compassionate services, regardless of circumstance.
“Being healthy is beyond just seeing a doctor; it is addressing the social and emotional aspect, food insecurity or unstable housing that can affect someone’s health,” Dana Varga, a Neighborhood Healthcare representative, tells us.
Founded in Escondido, today the organization has expanded its services to El Cajon, Riverside and more.
Neighborhood Healthcare provides a full range of services, from pediatrics, senior care, and dental services to behavioral health, mental health therapy, psychologists, psychiatrists, specialty care, chiropractic health, and acupuncture.
They also count on a team of certified enrollment counselors who assist anyone in need in applying to Medi-Cal or CalFresh.
“They will sit with them and guide them through the whole application process. If for some reason they do not qualify, we have funds that provide what we called ‘unfunded care’”. Interpretation services and medical care are also provided in Spanish and Arabic.
Whole-person care
“We screen for social determinants of health. Being healthy is beyond just seeing a doctor, it is the social and emotional aspect, too … Also, food insecurity or unstable home, all these things affect someone’s health. It is a whole-person care,” says Varga, in an interview with North County Informador.
She explains that if someone has diabetes, insulin is prescribed, but people are homeless or have no access to refrigeration for the insulin, or a place to get healthy food, their health is affected. In this case, Neighborhood Healthcare connects them with partners that assist in all aspects of health, offering, for example, a partnership with Interfaith Community Services that allows them to direct patients in need to addiction treatment and to housing.
In the Covid vaccination effort, partnerships with Universidad Popular and school districts have increased the proximity to people’s houses and created more trust. “Sometimes transportation is a challenge. The time of the day matters because people work. We were able to identify and serve more micro areas that showed lower vaccination rates. We picked schools in those areas, groceries, expanded days of service and times for easy access,” says Varga.
Covid also put a spotlight on controlling underlying conditions, she says.
“If somebody is unable to come to us, we can send our mobile health team to monitor patients’ health or distribute vaccines. We also provide food distribution in Escondido twice a month through Feeding San Diego,” says Varga.
Due to the increase in Covid cases, some of the programs had to be halted, or to continue partially or virtually. “We try to overcome the digital divide with videos and access to devices,” says Varga. These programs are returning to pre-Covid status little by little.
Neighborhood Healthcare’s senior program connects seniors with diabetes managers, medical resources, and dental services, and helps monitor blood pressure. Meanwhile, the social aspect is covered through a program that includes doing potlucks to connect.
Project Dulce is a nutrition program to learn about diabetes care. Educational classes for teens and prenatal care are also offered.
Undocumented coverage
Recently passed AB133 extended medical benefits to undocumented persons in California over 50. “It can be a sensitive topic, but it is a federal assembly bill. We, of course, follow those rules,” says Varga.” Now more people qualify for Medi-Cal and have more health access and peace of mind, regardless of immigration status.
Dental health is essential. La salud bucal es fundamental. Photo courtesy of Neighborhood Healthcare
