Page 60 - LIN November 2022 Issue

JAMIE ULMER, CEO of Healthcare Network

HEALTH CENTERS ARE CRITICAL

for providing care to the community

or more than 50 years, Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC),
otherwise known as Community Health Centers, have focused
Fon health equity and social justice in health care—caring for
those who disproportionately suffer from chronic diseases and poorer
health outcomes regardless of their income or insurance status.
Providing high-quality health care to the Collier County commu-
nity for 45 years, Healthcare Network is among the more than 1,400
Federally Qualified Health Centers around the country.
Community Health Centers like Healthcare Network are not
ordinary medical clinics. We are also problem-solvers who reach
beyond the exam room to care for the whole person, such as connect-
ing patients to resources like food and housing that are essential for
a person’s complete wellbeing.
Services include family care, obstetrics and gynecology, pediat-
rics, senior care, and pharmacy as well as dental care and integrated
behavioral health. Additionally, our team of community health Healthcare Network patients continue to benefit from an integrated
workers bring health and social services directly to underserved behavioral health model, where patients are screened for mental and
families through door-to-door canvassing and health fairs. behavioral health issues during regular primary care appointments.
Patients and the community needing traditional mental and behav-
ioral health services now have another wellness resource with our new
Providing high-quality Psychology Center for Health and Wellness at Nichols Community
health care to the Health Center in Golden Gate.
Collier County To better serve our families, we are also expanding pediatric ser-
community for vices. In September, Healthcare Network launched two new pediatric
45 years, Healthcare offerings—Pediatric Convenient Care and extended hours for pedi-
Network is among atric dental services. Our Pediatric Convenient Care at the Nichols
the more than 1,400 Community Health Center offers same-day care for infants, children
Federally Qualified and teens with minor illnesses and injuries. Through our Dental Care
Health Centers around East office, we extended pediatric appointments from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
the country.
so children will not need to miss valuable school time.
Since our founding in Immokalee in 1977, Healthcare Network
Our new maternal-fetal medicine program focuses on women has distinguished itself by providing primary care to men, women
with high-risk or complicated pregnancies, specialty care not always and children of all ages, helping the disenfranchised, underinsured
available to low-income mothers. In addition, we offer a wide range and uninsured of our communities, as well as those with insurance
of in-office procedures such as management of ectopic pregnancy, and resources who recognize the quality and comprehensiveness of
the Loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP) to prevent cervi- care available.
cal cancer and vulvar biopsy. These procedures were previously only
accessible to our patients at a hospital, where the cost to the patient ABOUT THE AUTHOR
was often prohibitive. Jamie Ulmer became President and CEO of Healthcare Network in July
We have added Chronic Care Management to provide ongoing after serving as CEO for a FQHC in Marion County, Florida. He serves
wellness support, increased access to medical resources and enhanced on the executive and chair committees for the Florida Association of
communication. This team helps patients with two or more chronic Community Health Centers and is a member of multiple committees
conditions reduce emergency room visits and hospitalization while for the National Association of Community Health Centers. For more
increasing engagement in their own healthcare. information, visit healthcareswfl.org.

60 Life in Naples November 2022