Northwest Colorado Visiting Nurse Association’s Community Health Center (CHC) is recognizing National Health Center Week 2013 August 5-11.  Community Health Centers all over the United States are nonprofit providers with a mission to provide comprehensive primary health care in a medical home.

Medical homes are valuable and necessary. When people have a place to go for regular care, they use it and stay healthy. Patients not only get the care they need under one roof, but they are treated as individuals, with dignity and respect. This is what health care should be, and what we celebrate during National Health Center Week.

CHC Quick Facts
•    VNA’s first CHC opened in Craig in 2008. In January of 2013, a second CHC opened in Steamboat Springs to provide services for Routt County residents.
•    Almost 4,500 people have gone to our CHCs for their health care since the beginning of 2013 with 9,000 medical visits and 840 behavioral health visits.
•    All services are offered on a sliding fee scale based on income and family size. Private insurance, Medicaid and Medicare are also accepted.  A family of four making less than $44,700 is eligible for a reduction in price.
•    CHC providers focus preventing disease and illness before it happens with Diabetes, Cardiovascular, and Cancer Screenings and help with positive changes in behavior like quitting smoking/chewing.
•    CHC offers same day and next day appointments for many urgent situations.
•    After hours, a bilingual answering service staffed by nurses is available for patients with medical questions and emergency situations.
•    To help people determine if patients need to be seen by a doctor immediately, a medical professional (triage) talks to more than 200 people per month.  If they cannot manage their condition at home, a same day appointment is made.
•    CHCs  helps qualifying patients without prescription drug coverage get the medicines they need. In the first 6 months of 2013, 200 applications for more than 75 clients were successfully processed and the clients received $ 160,000 worth in prescription assistance.
•    CHCs employs 4 physicians, 4 physician assistants, 1 nurse practitioner, 6 medical assistants, 2 behavioral health specialists.

Patients have a choice in healthcare providers and Northwest Colorado Visiting Nurse Association’s Community Health Center is continually working to be the Provider of Choice. For more information or to make an appointment call 824-8233 or 879-1632 or log onto www.blog.northwestcoloradohealth.org.

Sincerely,
Diana Hornung, MD – Medical Director
Anna Lundeen, MD
Josh Welch, MD
Kristin Wilson, MD
Julia von Allmen, PA-C
Kim Boyce, PA-C
Frani Jenkins, PA-C
Suzanne Holm, NP
Jaimie Zelkin, NP
Gisela Garrison – Director of Health Center
Northwest Colorado Visiting Nurse Association Community Health Center

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