JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — On Wednesday, one local social services agency celebrated the reopening of one of its health clinics.
Sulzbacher relaunched the former pediatric clinic at the Sulzbacher Village into the Duval Family Health Center. The Center now serves all age ranges as well as a broader range of patients.
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When Sharicka Randall woke up in pain on Wednesday morning, she thought she was just going to have to deal with it and pay a major medical bill.
“Waking up this morning at 4:30 this morning with a bad toothache. Calling around to the dentist, having to spend about a thousand dollars,” said Randall.
But then she got wind that Sulzbacher was relaunching their Brentwood pediatric health clinic into what’s now called the Duval Family Health Center, which serves all age ranges.
“We have very comprehensive services. Which is medical, dental, optical, substance use treatment, and behavioral health,” Sulzbacher CEO Cindy Funkhouser said.
Funkhouser says her team decided now was the perfect time to implement this family focus model due to the Affordable Care Act subsidies and Medicaid funding cuts by the federal government.
“We want to make sure everybody knows they have a place to go, whether they have insurance or they don’t,” Funkhouser said. “We don’t ever turn anyone away for lack of ability to pay.”
For Randall, she says this resource is a blessing. Even though she has health insurance, her options were limited and expensive until she learned about Sulzbacher’s health center.
“This is a big deal because when you have health insurance, you’re very limited with going to find dental care, so with this, this will help a lot of people,” Randall said.
Sulzbacher wants to be clear that you do not have to be homeless to utilize its health services.
The organization plans to expand this family-focused health clinic approach to its other two health clinics in the near future.
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