KING COUNTY, WASHINGTON - Today at the Central Area Health Care Center in Seattle, U.S. Senator Patty Murray was joined by various community leaders to highlight the early successes of, and show her continued support for, Kids Get Care, a program designed to link children to a health care home for preventive services and primary care regardless of their insurance status.
"I'm proud of the critical work being done by the Kids Get Care program in Seattle. It's a great example of how federal dollars from the Community Access Program are serving children and families in our area," said Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash). "While the Bush Administration is trying to kill the CAP program, I continue to fight for these federal dollars and the innovative local services they support."
Through four hub sites in King County, Kids Get Care offers primary care providers training and tools in order to provide more efficient, effective well child care. "This program has improved the delivery of health services and is addressing the need to bridge the health gap between the haves and the have-nots," said King County Executive Ron Sims.
In its first year of a Community Access Program (CAP) grant, Kids Get Care:
- contributed to a dramatic 46% increase in the number of well child exams performed at Kids Get Care sites, without any increase in staff
- connected over 3,000 children in King County to Health Care Homes where they received integrated physical, oral and developmental care
- trained over 1,700 health professionals and staff from community based organizations to screen over 18,000 kids for developmental issues and educate families about the importance of well child care and oral health
- trained over 100 primary care providers in oral health promotion and assessment
- scanned 4,000 children for oral health problems and connected them to oral health services as needed
"With these kinds of innovative public-private partnerships we can strengthen our health care system and make sure that all kids have access to quality preventive health care," says Dr. Alonzo Plough, Director of Public Health - Seattle & King County. Kids Get Care is funded by the Community Access Program (CAP), a federal program to strengthen health care services for the uninsured and underinsured, and by the Washington Dental Service Foundation.
"The entire Kids Get Care team has done a great job during its first year finding high-risk children and providing them comprehensive care in creative ways. During the second year, we hope to expand sites and partnerships," said Lisa Podell, Program Manager for Kids Get Care. "Every child needs to have a comfortable, trusted health care home where they they can be treated as a whole child with their mind, mouth and body connected. Getting kids care, that's our goal."
"Congressional approval of legislation to authorize the Community Access Program and to extend other key health care safety net programs last week comes at a crucial juncture," said Dan Hawkins, senior official at the Health Care Access Coalition, which represents CAP-funded projects. "Health care costs have soared and the number of uninsured people in the United States has climbed to over 41 million. With Senator Murray's key support, successful programs like Kids Get Care can continue to meet growing needs."
Background on Kids Get Care
Kids Get Care is a program of the King County Health Action Plan, a mature partnership of over 30 major public and private health care system leaders in our community convened by Public Health-Seattle & King County. The mission of the Health Action Plan is to implement innovative collaborative policy development and pilot projects that focus on system change and the improvement of worsening health trends affecting vulnerable populations within King County.
Kids Get Care partners include:
- Community Health Centers of King County (in Kent, Redmond and Federal Way)
- Odessa Brown Children's Clinic (Children's Hospital & Regional Medical Center)
- Carolyn Downs Family Medical Center
- Puget Sound Educational Service District's Early Childhood Programs
- Seattle Public Schools Early Childhood Programs
- University of Washington Center on Human Development and Disability
- Washington Dental Service Foundation
- Washington Health Foundation
For more information on Kids Get Care, please visit: www.metrokc.gov/health/kgc
