EASTON, Pa. — Two community health organizations will offer medical and dental screenings in the city in October, officials announced Wednesday.
Valley Health Partners and Star Community Health will offer free and low-cost services to the community via mobile health units Oct. 14, City Councilman Frank Pintabone said at a news conference.
From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Star Community Health will hold a medical and dental van in the parking lot behind the Easton Area Community Center at 901 Washington St., and Valley Health Partners will hold a dental van in the parking lot of Bravo Supermarket at 250 Line St.
Pintabone said the program's goal is to set up access to health care for those who lack money, transportation or other resources necessary to get it themselves.
“And we just want to bring health care to the communities that oftentimes don't have access to it."Easton City Councilman Frank Pintabone
“Whether you have great insurance or no insurance, we're going to get you looked at, get you on a plan, [and] make sure you follow up at the brick-and-mortar buildings," Pintabone said.
"And we just want to bring health care to the communities that oftentimes don't have access to it."
Mayor Sal Panto Jr. stressed the importance of providing access to medical care for all city residents, as “the health of the community isn’t just the economic health, it’s also the physical health.”
“Screening is the most important thing you can do for a person to catch an issue very early on; it could be manageable at that time,” Panto said.
He said he was fortunate to find his case of colon cancer early on thanks to a colonoscopy at age 63.
'A one-stop shop for families'
Star Community Health Executive Director Mark Roberts said his organization is focused on providing care access to those who are “underinsured, uninsured, whatever the barrier may be.”
“We're providing free dental screenings for the community, cancer oral screenings for adults, blood pressure checks, oral health education, STI information, as well as breast cancer screening information," Roberts said.
"These screenings are key for early detection intervention."
Roberts also said oral screenings are particularly important to overall health, as oral issues are often indicative of larger problems elsewhere in the body.
Valley Health Partners Vice President of Community Impact and Engagement Nate Boateng said the event also will serve as the premier of their VHP location.
That will feature a Community Smiles dental setup set to open at 440 Lincoln St. in February or March.
“That expansion will include primary care, internal medicine, a full-service retail pharmacy and some other services as well,” Boateng said.
Valley Health Partners Chief Transformation Officer Carol Michaels said she and her colleagues were excited to be “strong advocates for health and wellbeing.”
“I also want to emphasize that we'll have pediatric and women's care in that building, as well as vision and dental, which was also mentioned," she said.
"So it's really going to be a one-stop shop for families, and so we hope to see many of the families on the South side in a couple of weeks for this pop up."
'We want to be preventive'
Representatives from both organizations stressed that as federally qualified health centers, they had programs in place to help assist with finances, including a sliding scale fee that could set the price for services as low as $5.
“We're super proud of the fact that our uncontrolled diabetic population is among the lowest in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and across the country. It's down in the 16 percent range, where others can be… on average, above 30 percent uncontrolled.”Star Community Health Executive Director Mark Roberts
Pintabone said he has found many residents in the West Ward and South Side neighborhoods forgo health screenings because of cost, so “we want to be preventative” by setting the barrier to health care access at a much more affordable point.
Roberts also stated the screening session can assist patients who needs further assistance by connecting them with a partner through a referral agreement. So a trip to a specialist will still remain affordable.
That can be especially important for those with chronic conditions, such as diabetes, Roberts said.
He said Star Community Health has seen incredible results when affordable care programs such as the screening vans and sliding scale fees are implemented.
“We're super proud of the fact that our uncontrolled diabetic population is among the lowest in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and across the country," he said.
"It's down in the 16 percent range, where others can be… on average, above 30 percent uncontrolled.”
For more information about the event, email Pintabone at pintabone@easton-pa.gov.
