‘Medi-Vans’ Provide Free Care to Children Through San Ysidro Health Center Project
Two "medi-vans" have begun to provide health care services to children in Chula Vista as part of a one-year project administered by the San Ysidro Health Center, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. The vans, part of the center's one-year Healthy Steps project, provide medical, dental and behavioral health services at no cost to children ages five and younger in low-income, Spanish-speaking families that do not have transportation to a doctor's office. Healthy Steps has 15 staff members who ride in the vans, including a psychologist's assistant, a physician's assistant and two medical assistants. Staff members refer patients to the San Ysidro Health Center or satellite clinics when a patient requires additional medical care, the Union-Tribune reports. Officials at Healthy Steps, which is funded by $1.7 million in Proposition 10 tobacco tax revenue, said that they hope to treat 12,000 patients (Zuniga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4/10).
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