Now,
imagine all of this without health insurance. You may
be newly unemployed, or you may work hard to make ends
meet but find health insurance a luxury you can’t
afford. You discover that there is no government help
for the vast majority of adults with no insurance coverage.
Faced with the possibility of thousands of dollars of
debt, you ignore the early warning signals of serious
health problems. You pass off the chest pain as a pulled
muscle; you try to convince yourself that the lump on
your neck is something benign.
People
without health insurance live with more sickness and die
younger. For example, a study among women diagnosed with
breast cancer, found that those without health insurance
were 49% more likely to die than those with health coverage.
Where
can you turn? SeaCare Health Services is there for you.
SeaCare Health Services is a non-profit program. It is
the only agency in the Seacoast that provides private,
office-based medical care for uninsured people. SeaCare
exists to make sure individuals facing difficult times
and are unable to afford adequate health insurance, are
given the opportunity to receive the care they need.
In
partnership with over 400 volunteer health care professionals
in the seacoast area, we are saving lives and helping
people live better. The staff at SeaCare provides care
coordination, health education and referral services.
Over 2000 individuals enrolled in SeaCare in 2008 and
received more than $1,140,000 in donated health care products
and services. SeaCare is celebrating its fifteenth anniversary
in 2009, and its network of volunteer providers has donated
over $15 million in healthcare services and products to
thousands of area seacoast residents.
Thousands
of uninsured individuals and families in the Seacoast
region do not have health insurance. Being uninsured is
not just a problem for the unemployed. Eight of ten of
our uninsured neighbors are in working families. When
a family health insurance policy can cost over $20,000,
it is no wonder that so many employers simply cannot afford
to provide such a benefit and so many families cannot
purchase coverage themselves. Over and over again, when
people call SeaCare, they begin their conversation with
“I’ve never had to ask for help.”
The
health care crisis has wed the economy. Today, too many
hard-working people right here in the Seacoast are without
access to healthcare. Our neighbors and friends are losing
jobs and often, the family health insurance as well. This
year, an economy in the doldrums has caused more companies
to go out of business, more layoffs, and more people without
health insurance. Applications for participation in SeaCare’s
programs have increased 55 per cent. Last year, SeaCare
provided access to local healthcare services and medication
that would have cost $2.85 million dollars, unprecedented
levels.
So,
what does all of this have to do with Squamscott Community
Commons?
First and foremost SCC will provide modern, affordable
space to ensure that SeaCare can offer its health care
services for years to come. Beyond that critical piece,
let’s look at the individual or family coming to
SeaCare for services. Working with a care coordinator,
the family discovers that there are additional community
services available to help them. A young family needs
affordable daycare so the mother can return to work. An
overweight adult has been told by his doctor that he must
begin to exercise. Food scarcity has another couple worried
about how they will eat in the coming months. A family
wants to continue with art lessons for their child because
they see how it helps provide a necessary outlet from
their tension-filled lives.
Imagine
that all of these services were located in the same building?
A building that provides all kinds of opportunities to
rich or poor, old and young and everyone in between with
a welcoming, safe environment to find assistance, to relax,
to try new things, or to meet new friends. In short, a
destination that promotes the health and well-being of
all members of a family under one roof.
Squamscott
Commons will enhance services provided by SeaCare by exposing
clients to all of the services provided affordably and
conveniently under one roof. Each: Richie McFarland, Exeter
Center for the Creative Arts, Great Bay Kids, Rockingham
Community Action and the YMCA promote health and well-being.
SeaCare will join these agencies with a common mission
to provide opportunities for all of us to maintain and
improve our health.
--
Kathy Crompton, Executive Director SeaCare Health Services.
