Pay down District Debts. Continue support for the Brookside Community Health Center. Develop additional Healthcare programs to better serve our communities. Maintain vigorous Oversight of the lease Agreement.
The West Contra Costa Healthcare District needs to continue to pay down its debts that were incurred treating uninsured and underinsured patients at Brookside Hospital. In keeping with the District's mission statement, healthcare for all, the District currently grants funding to the Brookside Community Health Center that goes toward providing comprehensive primary health care for low-income, uninsured and underinsured residents of West Contra Costa County. Nearly one half or about 7,800 patient visits annually, have no insurance and rely on the Brookside Community Health Center as a sole source of health care. In 1998 with the volunteer leadership of Dan Tanita,DDS, the Health Center opened a basic Dental Clinic, which has grown to provide approximately 200 visits monthly to local residents and children that otherwise would not have access to dental care. I understand the many challenges that we are facing with market place medicine and our ailing Healthcare System. I will seek creative solutions working with the board, community leaders, and our healthcare providers to create a new model of healthcare, one that works for everyone equally, and one we can depend upon all of the time. We can not continue to allow essential healthcare services to leave our communities. We need a system that is all inclusive, accessible, and affordable, that provides quality healthcare in our own communities.
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