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InterCare locations are shown in blue. WIC only locations are shown in gray.
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Contact: Velma Hendershott Holland Zeeland Community Foundation Awards InterCare funds to Improve Access to Health CareThe Holland Zeeland Community Foundation recently announced that InterCare Community Health Network, which operates a health center on James Street for community residents and migrant farmworkers, is a recipient of a grant to support its proposal to expand access to health care for the uninsured. This is the second year in a row that the Foundation has assisted InterCare in augmenting its services to its patients. InterCare delivers primary medical and dental care at its James Street location to over 5,000 individuals each year. The health center is home to five physicians, four dentists and several mid-level providers. InterCare has served the Holland community and surrounding area for over 30 years. Based on its mission of providing equal access to quality health care, InterCare offers a sliding fee discount program for the uninsured and those unable to pay. The primary purpose of the funding from the Holland Zeeland Community Foundation will be to close the gap for InterCare’s patients who need care beyond its own walls. This would include services from medical specialists, oral surgeons, prescription drugs, and radiography. Although InterCare receives funding for its sliding fee program from the federal Department of Health and Human Services, that money is too limited to cover needed services from outside providers in the private sector. One of InterCare’s longstanding goals is to improve the health of certain population groups that are at highest risk of premature death, disease, and disability. In Holland, this target group tends to be Hispanic, a large segment of which is settled-out migrant farmworkers. Approximately 90% of InterCare’s patients are at or below 200% of the poverty level. Over half are uninsured. Often, these are the individuals who have the most restricted access to needed specialty treatment and diagnostic services. It is projected that InterCare’s funding from the Holland Zeeland Community Foundation will support improved services for up to 450 individuals this year, nearly double from last year. This year’s funds included an additional allocation for more oral surgery, the costliest of the referral services supported by the Foundation award. InterCare offers a full range of medical and dental services at its Holland practice. It also provides prenatal and obstetrics care and is the WIC agency for Ottawa County as well. InterCare operates five other medical and dental practices in southwest Michigan. Like hundreds of other community and migrant health centers across the country, it seeks to ultimately reduce health disparities between population groups within the communities it serves. According to Velma Hendershott, InterCare’s CEO, "InterCare’s Holland providers are deeply grateful to the Foundation for their ongoing recognition of this need in our community and for their help in addressing it." InterCare’s Holland physicians include Drs. Lana Zarlenga, Odalis Miedema, Wendy Balivet, Peter Christensen, and Christa Murphy. They are assisted in the practice by Roberta Dischinger, Nurse Practitioner, Julie Ludwig, Certified Nurse Midwife, and by the outside services of Dr. Mark Lenters. InterCare’s dental providers include Dr. Priyha Banahatti, Dr. Bill Riggert, Dr. Larry Smiley, Dr. Leonard Goldfarb, and Chris Sandera, Registered Hygienist. For more information about InterCare’s services please call 399-0200. |
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