SHARE OUR SELVES 4 - 2002 - Laserfiche WebLink

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'-' ...... II. APPLICATION SUMMARY The Share Our Selves Free Medical and Dental Clinic provides high quality comprehensive medical and dental services to the poor and medically indigent from Santa Ana and all of Orange County. The SOS Free Clinic is unique in that its primary goal is to serve those who cannot receive care at another facility due to lack of funds, insurance and ineligibility for govemment programs. For many we are the provider of "last resort" as there is no County Hospital. DCI is not a County Hospital and even the sliding scale fees charged by the DCI Family Health Center in Santa Ana are beyond the financial ability of many people. The need for medical and dental care by low-income residents of Orange County is well documented by the Coalition of Orange County Community Clinics (COCCC) (System of Care Needs Assessment Project, 2002), by the 2002 Orange County Community Indicators and by the annual OSHP D Report. The City of Santa Ana's population is 76.1 % Hispanic (City of Santa Ana website) and 19.8% of the residents live below the federal poverty level (County of Orange website). In addition to serving the unemployed and homeless individuals, SOS also treats a large population of the "working poor". These are individuals with jobs paying minimum wage that do not provide medical benefits or provide minimal health care coverage with high deductibles. In fact, according to the Coalition's report, 43% of Orange County residents who are uninsured work full time. Their income must be used for the most basic living essentials, leaving little or nothing for health care. The goal of the FREE MEDICAL CLINIC is to protect the health of the community by providing medical services, which assist patients in regaining or maintaining their highest level of health. There is no charge to the patient. Services are available Monday - Friday including four evenings a week and two Saturdays per month. SOS provides diagnosis and treatment of acute illnesses for children and adults, as well as diagnosis, treatment, and health education for adults with chronic illnesses. Some diagnostic testing is available on site. The SOS pharmacy dispenses medications at no charge to patients who could not otherwise afford them. Specialty services include Dermatology, Gynecology, Physical Therapy, Podiatry, Chiropractic, Psychiatry and Orthopedics. The Eye Clinic provides eye exams and glasses. The goal of the SOS FREE DENTAL CLINIC is to assist its patients to preserve and maintain their natural, permanent teeth whenever possible. To reach this goal, the Dental Clinic provides emergency and preventive dental services Monday - Friday including one evening a week and two Saturdays per month. Throughout the County, the need for dental services for adults is much greater than the ability to meet those needs, with SOS providing 31.2% of the dental care to the county's adult indigent population. One day a week is devoted to hygiene, working with the Cypress Junior College program. SOS has been actively involved for two years in the OraI Health Dental Collaborative, assisting other free and community clinics in the development of dental care for this population. The SOS Free Medical Clinic has provided uninterrupted patient care for eighteen years and the Free Dental Clinic for fifteen years. Our facility is owned free and clear, we have a loyal base of support from individuals, local businesses, foundations and a core of reliable long time volunteers. The agency belongs to the Coalition of Orange County Community Clinics and participates in several healthcare collaboratives throughout the county. SOS is well qualified to continue providing this high quality, badly needed service to the community. EXHIBIT A