Community clinic to reach out, educate, comfort

Bryce Alderton

For years the staff members at the Huntington Beach Community Clinic

have tried to serve all who come through the clinic doors.

Now they hope to send someone out into the community to actively bring

patients in.

Administrators at the nonprofit clinic plan to use a $32,000 grant

from the Orange County Chapter of the March of Dimes to hire a Promoter,

a person charged with encouraging women to come to the clinic to access

health care either for themselves or for their newborn or unborn

children.

Clinic officials hope the new hire will attend meetings in apartment

complexes and community centers to build trust in the city and educate

women on the health care choices afforded at the clinic.

Women living in the Oak View neighborhood are one main target group,

said Ganka Brown, director of development for the clinic.

“We want somebody familiar with the community that can relate to

people, someone that encourages people to come to classes, follow up with

women and support them,” Brown said.

The clinic will seek someone who can act as a translator and will be

familiar with common medical terms and feel comfortable talking about

women’s health care issues, Brown said.

Last year the Orange County March of Dimes provided the clinic with a

$16,000 grant, which was used for trimester pregnancy classes.

The clinic is a nonprofit charitable agency formed in 1969 to provide

affordable health care in the community. About 75% of patients are women

and children, 92% of whom are below Federal poverty guidelines.