Our Patients

In our most recent fiscal year (10-11) we provided over 19,000 visits to more than 7,000 individuals.

Our primary patient population includes uninsured and publicly insured families, the elderly, the physically and/or developmentally disabled, the homeless, pregnant women and new parents, farm workers and their families, and HIV positive individuals.

Approximately 93% of patients are Santa Cruz County residents.  42% of our clients this year lacked any form of dental insurance (8,000+ visits).  We are one of very few dental providers in the county serving Medi-Cal, Healthy Kids and Healthy Families beneficiaries.

96% of our patients last year were living at or below the Federal Poverty Level.

Our patients in FY10-11 included more than:

• 2,200 New patients
• 2,750 Emergency visits
• 7,400 Children’s visits
• 1,940 Seniors’ visits
• 770 Homeless patients

We are a bilingual clinic, which is important since approximately one third of our clients are monolingual Spanish speaking, and over 40% of patients are Latino.

We also serve a large number of disabled adults and children. We have taken many measures to make our facility completely accessible and welcoming to those with disabilities, including procuring equipment that make positioning easy for every patient and allows ample access for wheelchair patients.  In many cases, patients can be treated directly in wheelchairs.

Santa Cruz County exceeds both the state and national averages for rate of individuals lacking health insurance, with over 20% uninsured in 2008.

This number has surged in 2009, reflecting the present day crisis that encompasses rising unemployment, increasing poverty, and reduced funding for vital public services.  Furthermore, far too many people who do have medical insurance lack dental coverage, as exhibited by many employer-based insurance plans and the exclusion of adult dental services from California’s Medicaid plan, which includes over 18,000 income restricted patients in Santa Cruz County.