HOUSTON, Texas – Dec. 22, 2015 – Residents of West Houston received free health screenings on Dec. 5 at a Mobile Health Event sponsored by CITGO Petroleum Corporation, in partnership with Henry Schein, Spring Branch Community Health Center (SBCHC), The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Dentistry, Amerigroup, Citizens for Animal Protection (CAP), United HealthCare, Centers for Medicare, Medicaid Services (CMS), Alzheimer’s Association, H-E-B and the Houston Food Bank. The event is designed to bring critical health services, dental screenings and access to healthy foods to underserved areas.
SBCHC provided more than 100 attendees with glucose, body mass index (BMI), blood pressure or asthma screenings, as well as preventative health care. More than 40 of those attendees also received free dental screenings for adults and children from students at the UTHealth School of Dentistry in using the university’s Mobile Van. Additionally, the Houston Food Bank’s Mobile Pantry donated 10,000 pounds of food to health fair attendees. Volunteers from the Houston Food Bank were also available to process applications for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for qualifying families.
The event took place at SBCHC’s West Houston Clinic, which provides family medicine, pediatric services and women’s health care to the area. SBCHC is a nonprofit based in Houston committed to increasing the overall quality of health for uninsured and underinsured families in the community.
“Based on our patient socioeconomic data nearly 60 percent of school-aged children in this area are considered ‘economically disadvantaged’ and have limited access to preventative healthcare related to cardiovascular and nutritional health,” said Angel Cordero, marketing specialist at SBCHC. “With help from CITGO, we hope to give many people in the area the opportunity to manage their health through these screenings.”
“CITGO supports healthy nutrition and lifestyles and believes in providing resources to those in need, especially in the communities we operate,” said CITGO President & CEO Nelson P. Martinez. “In the past decade, we’ve served more than 800 patients through programs like this Mobile Health Event. Through our work with organizations like the Spring Branch Community Health Center, UTHealth School of Dentistry and the Houston Food Bank we strive to provide critical preventative care to those most affected by poverty in the Houston area.”
The Mobile Health Event is part of a greater healthcare initiative from CITGO called Caravan of Care. This program supports local healthcare organizations and brings mobile services to underserved and low-income areas in Texas and Louisiana with the goal of providing these communities with health and dental screenings and access to nutritious food. Last month, CITGO partnered with The Rose, a Texas-based health organization, to help provide advanced breast cancer screenings and diagnostic services to women at the Southwest Louisiana Center for Health Services. To learn more about how CITGO is making a difference in the communities in which it operates, please visit www.CITGO.com/SocialResponsibility/Community or follow @CITGO on Twitter.
About Spring Branch Community Health Center
Spring Branch Community Health Center (SBCHC) is a private, nonprofit community health center providing quality and affordable healthcare services to the under-served community of Spring Branch. Our mission is to increase the number of healthy families in our community by providing high-quality, comprehensive healthcare services to all patients.
About Houston Food Bank
The Houston Food Bank is America’s largest food bank in distribution to its network of nearly 600 hunger relief charities in 18 southeast Texas counties. Named top charity in Texas by Charity Navigator for financial performance and accountability, the Houston Food Bank provides 74 million nutritious meals to food pantries, soup kitchens, senior centers and other agencies, feeding 800,000 people each year.
About UTHealth School of Dentistry in Houston
As part of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), the School of Dentistry’s three-part mission of education, patient care and research aims to advance human health by providing high-quality education, patient care and research in oral health for Texas, the nation and the world. Learn more about the school at www.dentistry.uth.edu.
About CITGO
CITGO, based in Houston, is a refiner, transporter and marketer of transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and other industrial products. The company is owned by CITGO Holding, Inc., an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A., the national oil company of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. For more information, visit www.CITGO.com.