At One-Year Mark, El Cajon Urgent and Cardiac Care Center Exceeds Access and Care Goals for Community

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Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan's support fuels growth in patient visits, dramatic reduction of avoidable emergency room visits

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- One year after Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan's $1 million grant helped open the doors to the El Cajon Urgent and Cardiac Care Center in San Diego County, more than 24,000 new patients – adults and children – have sought help for a wide range of illnesses and health conditions. Among these are chest pains, heart palpitations, atrial fibrillation, vascular and heart disease, hypertensive crisis, infections of all kinds, and COVID-19. 

Since the Center opened in July 2023, the growth rate of patients has been "mind blowing,"  according to Fran Butler-Cohen, CEO of Family Health Centers of San Diego (FHCSD), which operates the El Cajon Center and is the county's largest health center system serving the region's low-income residents.

"Word-of-mouth about the urgent and cardiac care services available here has created explosive growth," Butler-Cohen said.   

Kristen Cerf, CEO and president of Blue Shield Promise, said the nonprofit health plan had two goals in mind in providing support in El Cajon.

"The first was to improve access to urgent medical care and cardiology services for patients in San Diego's underserved East County area," she said. "The second was to reduce avoidable emergency room visits and hospital readmissions within 30 days of patients being discharged. We're pleased to see our support is making a meaningful difference in improved access to care for people living in the region."

According to Butler-Cohen, the El Cajon Center already has surpassed two year's worth of goals in its first year – both in the number of patients served and reducing unnecessary trips to an emergency room.

"Our data not only shows 24,000 new patients within our first year; it also demonstrates that this Center has reduced avoidable hospital emergency room visits by more than 6,300 patients, which means those patients are receiving community-based care while we reduce healthcare costs," Butler-Cohen said. "Simply put, Blue Shield Promise's $1 million investment breaks down to costing about $41 a visit for each of our patients —a very inexpensive way to keep patients out of an emergency room."

Patients who have used the Center come from diverse backgrounds  and communities in San Diego:

• They are ethnically diverse – Latino, White, Black, Asian, and American Indian.
• More women use both the urgent and cardiac care services than men.
• The majority of patients seeking cardiac care are between 30 to 69 years old, with those who are 40 to 69 years old comprising the largest group.
• For urgent medical care, children from newborns through 17 years old and young adults ages 18-29 are the largest groups.

Harris Niazi, MD, assistant medical director, Urgent Care, and one of the physicians at the El Cajon Urgent Care Clinic, said he has come full circle. "I came to America as a child refugee from Afghanistan. Now, as a doctor here in El Cajon, I've had the rewarding opportunity to assist newly arrived Afghan refugees with their acute needs and connect them to our primary care system," he said. "Reflecting on my own childhood experiences and seeing my parents struggle with long waits and unnecessary emergency room visits due to limited access and lack of follow-up care, it's fulfilling for me to see these patients receive coordinated and timely care at this new facility."

Blue Shield Promise's  initial $1 million grant has enabled FHCSD to purchase important state of the art medical equipment for imaging and mammography, provide much-needed services to local residents and reduced months of  waiting time for patients who need those services.

As Blue Shield Promise and FHCSD look toward their second year in serving the El Cajon community, they expect the positive growth and improved health outcomes to continue. 

"We are known and trusted healthcare organizations who support healthy families and communities," Butler-Cohen said. "People see our names on this building, know we will take care of them, and they pull right into our parking lot."

About Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan
Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan is a managed care organization, wholly owned by Blue Shield of California, offering Medi-Cal. It is led by healthcare professionals with a "members-first" philosophy and committed to building a quality network of providers and partnering with community organizations for more than 580,000 members across Los Angeles and San Diego counties. For more information about Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan, please visit www.blueshieldca.com/promise. For more news about Blue Shield of California, please visit news.blueshieldca.com. Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook.

About Family Health Centers of San Diego
Family Health Centers of San Diego (FHCSD) provides caring, affordable, high-quality health care and supportive services to everyone, with a special commitment to uninsured, low-income, and medically underserved persons. It is one of the nation's ten largest FQHCs, operating 90 sites across San Diego County. For more information about FHCSD, please visit https://www.fhcsd.org.

SOURCE Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan