Health & Dental Center to Fill Critical Need for Local Children
First-of-Its-Kind Center in Garden Grove Celebrates Grand Opening
More than 100 local officials and community leaders joined together to celebrate the grand opening of the Children's Health and Dental Center of Garden Grove today. The Center is expected to provide health care, family counseling and dental treatment to more than 3,000 Orange County children in the next year.
The Center comes at a critical time for Orange County families - the recent focus on health access for children requires a stable infrastructure of pediatric care facilities in Orange County to meet the health needs of children. A recent study also found more than half the children entering Orange County elementary schools haven't received necessary oral health care.
"This Center will give one of our most vulnerable populations - young children - access to much needed health services in Orange County," said Sally Snyder, chair of the Children and Families Commission of Orange County, and former school nurse. "Children can now receive the treatment they need along with the preventative care that will help children to be healthy and ready to succeed in school and in life."
The $4.5 million construction project funds a two-story, 13,500-square-foot medical center that includes eight medical exam rooms and six dental exam rooms that will provide health care and oral health treatment for young children.
"This first-of-its-kind Center in Orange County is conveniently located adjacent to the Boys & Girls Club of Garden Grove," said Pat Halberstadt, Director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Garden Grove. "Our local Club has a population of 5,000 children and families who can easily make use of and benefit from the services provided."
Made possible through a joint partnership of the Children and Families Commission of Orange County, Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC), the Boys & Girls Clubs of Garden Grove and Healthy Smiles for Kids of Orange County, the Children's Health and Dental Center of Garden Grove will open its doors to the public on August 29 and is located at 10540 Chapman Avenue in Garden Grove. Hours of operation will be daily and flexible to accommodate working families. For more information about health, counseling or dental services call:
- Health services: CHOC, (714) 532-7900
- Counseling services: Boys & Girls Club of Garden Grove, (714) 532-7940
- Dental services: Healthy Smiles for Kids of Orange County, (714) 532-7925
The Children's Health and Dental Center of Garden Grove represents a unique partnership between local agencies, non-profits, healthcare professionals and communities in addressing the health needs of young children. By offering family counseling, pediatric health, and dental services under one roof, the center serves as a model for the delivery of comprehensive health care to children in Orange County.
The Children and Families Commission of Orange County was created as a result of Proposition 10, the California Children and Families Act of 1998. The proposition added a 50-cent sales tax on tobacco products sold in California and requires that funds raised be used to support education, health and childcare programs promoting healthy early childhood development from the prenatal stage to age five. The Children and Families Commission of Orange County is responsible for overseeing the allocation of tobacco tax revenues received annually from the State Commission. For more information, please visit the Commission’s Web site at www.occhildrenandfamilies.com.
(see photos from the opening)
