Melissa Garcia, a process improvement coordinator with the Community Health Center of Yavapai, discussed the community’s primary care needs at an Osher Lifelong Learning Institute Brown Bag program on Friday, April 14.
CHCY’s mission is to contribute to the wellbeing of the people of Yavapai County by offering quality integrated primary health services. It has three locations in Cottonwood, Prescott and Prescott Valley.
CHCY started as a free clinic in 1993 after identifying a large need for free primary care services. It grew out of a volunteer-led grassroots effort that used donated clinic space from Yavapai County to meet local medical needs. The Cottonwood location opened in 2011.
Garcia said that she constantly hears residents express concerns over access to primary care in Cottonwood and reassured them that “we have the ability to meet the needs.” As a Federally Qualified Community Health Center, CHCY services include medical care, dental care, prenatal care, behavioral health, the WellWoman HealthCheck, reproductive health and care coordination, including medication assistance and insurance enrollment. CHCY applies the “patient-centered medical home” concept, meeting multiple needs of the whole patient.
Garcia stressed that they always try to maintain availability for established patients to be able to have same-day appointments, as opposed to many primary care facilities where it takes months to get an appointment even as an established patient. She also pointed out that they accept anyone as a patient as well as most major insurance plans.
“We don’t refuse services to anyone; that’s part of being a community health center,” Garcia said.
CHCY’s sliding fee program starts as low as $35, and Garcia emphasized that no one will be denied access to health services regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay. They can adjust the fees for income-eligible uninsured or underinsured patients and those with insurance who have high deductibles or co-pays.
“We reduce barriers so everyone has access to care,” Garcia said.
CHCY is the only provider in Yavapai County to offer a WellWoman HealthCheck program, known nationally as the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program. This provides women with mammograms, clinical breast exams and pap testing.
CHCY served 12,000 individual patients in 2022 and has nine primary care providers, many of which have been with CHCY since its inception.
Garcia also shared profiles on each staff member at the Cottonwood facility, including family nurse practitioner Amber Bahm, who was recently awarded the Arizona Community Star award for excellence in rural health care, and pediatrician Kara Block. Garcia stressed the importance of providing same-day care for sick children and how Block was a key player in helping to keep kids out of the hospital by ensuring they could be seen at CHCY.
Another nurse practitioner, Mirandine Fitchette, is fluent in four languages, which Garcia mentioned is an added benefit for patients.
CHCY also provides dental care. “I will die with a drill in my hands,” staff dentist Paul Bahlinger said.
Later this year, CHCY will have a groundbreaking ceremony for its new pharmacy in Prescott, which will provide services throughout Yavapai County.
