|
|
 |
Community Health Center in White City Reaches Milestone
White City, Oregon (08/28/09) -- Community Health Center in White City is celebrating 10 years of caring for the Upper Rogue community on Saturday, October 3 from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. at 8385 Division Rd. in White City. The community is invited join in the open house celebration, tour the facility, enjoy cake and cookies, win door prizes and take home hand-made balloon creations for the kids by Garry the Balloonman. A ceremony to recognize the achievements of the past 10 years will be held at 2:30 p.m.
In the late 1990s, it did not go unnoticed that women needed an affordable and accessible source for prenatal care in White City and surrounding areas. The birth weight of many babies was alarmingly low and some just did not survive. Statistically, the infant death rate in the Upper Rogue region was nearly three times that of the State average. Mothers and babies living in the White City area clearly needed access to health care and social services, and the request to fill that need came to Community Health Center.
It took the efforts of Jackson County Health & Human Services, the Upper Rogue Family Resource Center, Community Health Center in Medford, and grant writer Kathy Ingram, to secure a $2.3 million federal “Healthy Start” program grant to bring better health of White City. The grant funded five different projects in White City and the rural upper Rogue area, including a new community health clinic providing maternal and child health services, a family support team for high-risk pregnant women and their families, additional public health services at the Upper Rogue Family Resource Center and a program to reduce teen pregnancy.
Community Health Center in White City opened in 1998 in space rented at a very reasonable rate from Mike Burrill. By the end of the first year, the clinic was seeing 400 patients, many of whom had not been to the doctor in a very long time, and 83 women had gained access to prenatal care. By 2001, the number of patients seen at the clinic had nearly tripled and it was clear that the clinic on Antelope road had outgrown its facility. A capital campaign was launched raising $1.8 million and a much larger clinic was constructed in 2004 on Division Road. The land on which the clinic was built was donated by the Ted Hornecker Family Trust.
Now a decade later, the infant mortality rate for White City is 5.6, which compares quite favorably against an Oregon statewide rate of 7.2 and a national rate of 8.2. “Many minor-to-severe developmental disabilities and birth defects have been avoided by access to prenatal care,” says Peg Crowley, clinic executive director. “And we’re still building on that success,” Crowley adds.
“I believe that community is our first name, not by chance, but according to a well-crafted design that has withstood the test of time,” says Crowley. The future of Community Health Center relies on a framework of achievements, donations, and sacrifices of past and present generations. By providing accessible, timely and affordable health care services, Community Health Center makes certain that the overall health needs and wellbeing of those who otherwise might not be able to receive primary and preventive care is assured.
Established in 1972, Community Health Center’s mission is to promote the health of low-income working uninsured and other vulnerable children and adults. Community Health Center is a primary and preventive health care clinic with locations in Ashland, Medford and White City.
##
|
|
