CommuniCare Health Centers Receives Prestigious Migrant Health Center Award

The National Association of Community Health Centers has selected CommuniCare Health Centers to receive the 2008 Migrant Health Center Outstanding Service Award at the annual National Farmworker Health Conference. The award is presented to a migrant health center which has demonstrated an outstanding level of excellence in the migrant health care field and a high level of commitment and innovation in service to migrant farmworkers and their families.

CommuniCare Health Centers is the main safety net provider of primary health care for the low-income, uninsured and underinsured families of Yolo County, an area that is largely agricultural. Founded in 1972 as the Davis Free Clinic, CommuniCare has continuously served its mission to provide high quality health care to those in need.

“It is an honor for CommuniCare Health Centers to receive this award and it has been an honor for CommuniCare’s staff and volunteers to provide health care services for over 36 years to the migrant and seasonal farm worker families in our community,” said CommuniCare Executive Director, Robin Affrime.

CommuniCare Health Centers is the Medical Home for more than 21,000 residents of Yolo County. Last year, CommuniCare’s clinics provided over 81,000 patient visits. CommuniCare Health Centers has long demonstrated a strong commitment to meeting the needs of farm workers and their families by developing innovative culturally-competent programs to meet the needs of this group including:

• Expanding evening clinic hours with walk-in access for working families.
• Expanding services to the small rural towns where lack of public transportation is a barrier to care.
• Providing bilingual/bicultural dental and health education outreach at migrant camps and schools
• Establishing a Promotores de Salud program to reduce health disparities among culturally and geographically isolated families; and
• Offering Group Medical Appointments and Group Perinatal Visits, two programs that foster community sharing and network building among groups of patients with similar backgrounds and health care needs.

CommuniCare makes a difference in the lives of its patients and the communities it serves by providing cost-efficient, high quality, culturally competent health care services to people regardless of their ability to pay.   By making health care services accessible and affordable to those with or without health insurance, people are able to get needed treatment before their health conditions worsen and become ultimately more costly.  CommuniCare improves the quality of life for its patients and also helps to contain health care costs and ease the burden on local hospital emergency rooms. CommuniCare continues to be an advocate for the provision and expansion of health services for migrant and seasonal farm worker families, a core constituency of its patient population.

“We thank our fellow health centers, the Redwood Community Health Coalition and the California Primary Care Association who together advocate at the state and federal level for increased support for migrant and seasonal farm worker services,” added Affrime. “Most importantly, we thank our staff and our volunteers for their dedication in service to our mission. Through them we continue our commitment to the underlying philosophy that health care is a right, not a privilege.”

About CommuniCare Health Centers

CommuniCare is a private, non-profit health care organization offering comprehensive medical and dental services, vision care, substance abuse treatment, health education and outreach services. CommuniCare provides services at community clinics located in Davis, Woodland, Esparto, and West Sacramento, and provides health education and outreach throughout Yolo County. For thirty-six years, CommuniCare Health Centers has been promoting healthy communities by providing high quality, culturally appropriate health care for those in need.