Join White Mountain Community Health Center for Hoops & Scoops on Wednesday, August 7 from 4:30-6 pm to celebrate National Health Center Week. Trails End’s ice cream truck will be serving complimentary ice cream, and Family Nurse Practitioner Josie Lamb, APRN will be leading and teaching hula hooping. Billing Assistant Gisella Gambino will also be teaching Latin dance moves and there will be a houseplant giveaway.
Are you looking for a primary care provider or other healthcare provider for yourself or your child? Our providers who are taking new patients will be there, including:
- Family Nurse Practitioner Josie Lamb, APRN
- Family Nurse Practitioner Marcelo Maiorano, APRN
Executive Director JR Porter will give tours of the health center, while Community Health Worker Erin Jones and Receptionist Lauren Behre will be there to talk to community members about the programs and services we offer and to answer questions about our organization.
Josie will help beginner hula hoopers get started, and can teach tricks to those who have the basics down. Josie has been performing and teaching hula hooping for over a decade. She explained, “I love hula hooping because it’s a playful way to exercise and dance with music. There’s no one-size-fits-all way to be active. I like to encourage people to think outside the box and find something that’s joyful for them.”
Adults who think they can’t hula hoop anymore are encouraged to come and try it. “You need an adult sized hoop!” Josie explained, “Most of the hoops you buy in stores are built for children’s bodies and children have smaller waist circumferences, and it’s hard as an adult to get that going unless you practice a lot.”
National Health Center Week recognizes the critical work of the nation’s nearly 1,500 Community Health Centers to keep our communities healthy and safe. Health centers represent the nation’s largest primary care network, serving 31.5 million patients nationwide. Their patient-directed model of care is tailored to the unique needs of each community. Together, health centers are the backbone of the nation’s primary care system. Health centers save the U.S. healthcare system money by reducing the rate of chronic diseases and costly hospital visits.
Health centers are not just healers, they are innovators who look beyond the exam room to address the social drivers that may cause poor health, such as poverty, homelessness, substance use, mental illness, access to nutritious food, and unemployment. They are a critical piece of the U.S. healthcare system and collaborate with hospitals, local and state governments, social, health and business organizations to improve health outcomes. For nearly 60 years, health centers have been dedicated to making quality and affordable healthcare available to everyone in their communities, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay.
White Mountain Community Health Center is Mt. Washington Valley’s local Community Health Center. We foster community-wide health through quality and compassionate services. We ensure that everyone in the area can access these services through their sliding fee scale, patient care funds, cost transparency, transportation, translation, and care coordinators who help patients resolve issues interfering with their health such as housing or food access.
We are governed by a local board of directors made up primarily of our patients, who make sure the organization is providing excellent care for everyone they serve. Our patients are representative of the community at large – those with chronic diseases or serious illnesses, those who are well, those with extra to give, those who are going through difficult times and need extra support, and many in between. We are here for everyone.
We are accepting new patients for adult and pediatric primary care, children’s dental services, sexual & reproductive healthcare, mental health counseling, dietician services, and substance use disorder treatment. Our Teen Clinic is open to any teenager with walk-in hours Wednesday afternoon. Established patients can also access adult dental cleanings and X-rays and care coordination.
Join the us in celebrating healthcare everyone in our community can access with free ice cream, hula hooping, and more!