Whittier Street Health Center, a community health center with a mission to serve as a center of excellence that provides high quality and accessible health care and social services that achieve health equity, social justice, and the economic well-being of a diverse patient population, is placing emphasis on the importance of routine eye care.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) an estimated 11 million Americans over the age of 12 need vision correction – just one of the reasons why its important to schedule regular eye exams.
“Vision exams also detect eye diseases, that when discovered in early stages can be treated to help preserve vision,” said Dr. Sampson Nosike of the Whittier Optometry Department. “The importance of regular eye care cannot be overstated for both adults and children.”
Early treatment is critical to preventing common eye diseases, such as cataracts, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, and macular degeneration from causing permanent vision loss or blindness.
While vision issues tend to increase with age, children also need eye exams, yet according to the CDC, a mere 39% of preschool children have had their vision tested.
Whittier Street Health Center is doing its part to alter that number with its state-of-the-art optometry equipment serving all age groups from pediatric to geriatric. The Center’s Optometry Department offers routine eye exams, treats a wide range of visual problems and eye diseases, provides contact lens fittings, emergency services, and has an onsite optical laboratory. Whittier also owns and operates an onsite eyewear retail shop.
“Social determinants of health encompass the quality of an individual’s social and physical environment and its effect on health outcomes,” said Frederica M. Williams, president and CEO of Whittier Street Health Center. “Disparities in these social and environmental factors have a significant role in vision health disparities and inequity in eye care. In Healthy People 2030, the US Department of Health and Human Services broadly groups social determinants of health into five domains: economic stability, education access and quality, health care access and quality, neighborhood and built environment, and social and community context. Each of these domains contains social factors that significantly affect vision care. Social needs are strongly associated with visual impairment and access to eye care and Whittier Street Health Center is doing its part to partner with individuals and communities to address the social factors and remove barriers to care.”
About Whittier Street Health Center
Whittier Street Health Center is an independently licensed community health care center with a mission of providing high quality, reliable and accessible primary healthcare for diverse populations while promoting wellness and eliminating health and social disparities. A champion of equitable access to high quality, patient-focused care, social justice and economic equity, Whittier Street Health Center is accredited by The Joint Commission (TJC), certified by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) as a Patient-Centered Medical Home, and recognized by the NCQA for its Behavioral Health Integration. Through its locations in Roxbury and North Dorchester, and its Mobile Health Van program, Whittier Street Health Center serves more than 30,000 patients and 20,000 community outreach visits annually; its ethnically and racially diverse patient base is primarily made up of individuals from Roxbury, Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, the South End and greater Boston. Approximately 28% of Whittier’s patients are uninsured. Whittier Street Health Center provides a comprehensive array of 40 healthcare programs and services designed to meet the primary health care, behavioral health, and social needs of the community. For more information, please visit www.wshc.org as well as Facebook (www.facebook.com/WhittierStreetHealthCenter), Twitter (@Whittier_Boston), or LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/whittier-street-health-center), or call 617-989-3221.
