One of the tenets that BCHC believes strongly in, is that to really impact the health of the patients served we will continue to need the support and the partnership of other health care providers and health systems in our community. We believe that by working with hospitals and other health care professionals to connect insured, Medicaid, uninsured and other low-income patients with our FQHC medical homes that we can improve health outcomes. FQHCs not only improve the health of their patients but work hard to keep preventable health costs down in the community. According to National Association of Community Health Center, Caring for the Underserved in Berks County One of Berks Community Health Center proudest accomplishments was the expansion of our dental services. Dental services first started at the BCHC at 838 with 3 dental suites but the waiting list soon swelled to over 800 patients. With the opening of our 4th and largest site BCHC Rockland, a new dental suite with 10 new operatories staffed with several dentists and public health hygienist's expansion of dental services began. The integration of dental services at the same location as primary care is part of our goal of providing wholistic patient-centered health care. Too often adult and children have ignored their oral health leading to worsening physical health. The expansion of dental services at BCHC hopes to be a start at reversing that trend. health centers such as BCHC save 2,300 dollars per Medicaid patient served. Nationally health care centers serve over 28 million patients saving the health care system 24 billion dollars. This cost saving is accomplished while also providing quality care. Health centers provide high quality care often performing better on ambulatory care measures compared to private physicians while making great strides in decreasing health care disparities. Though we are proud of what we can and have accomplished we know that the work is not done. We believe and know that the job of improving the health of our patients will always require a response from the whole medical community. Our goal is to never stop striving to improve the health of the people in the city of Reading and Berks County. We know that the goal cannot achieved alone. We believe strongly that improving the health of our patients will be best accomplished when all in the medical community and other service organizations in the city of Reading and Berks County come together to achieve that goal. "Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and inhumane." - Martin Luther King V2 Ad for Berks Medical Record ad March 2019_Layout 1 3/29/19 9:20 AM Page 1 SPRING 2019 | 23http://edwardbusiness.com