Get your free flu shot thanks to the Safeway Pharmacy if you attend the Make A Difference for Pleasanton Festival. Safeway Pharmacy will be providing free flu shots to those who attend the festival at the Pleasanton Senior Center on Oct. 27, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
While you are there, the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department will be handing out free batteries for people's home smoke detectors, as part of Fire Prevention Month.
A donation of $15,000 will be presented to Axis Community Health by ACCUSPLIT, makers of pedometers and stopwatches. The presentation will take place at 11:15 a.m. at the Make A Difference for Pleasanton Festival, which will be held Saturday, October 27, from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Senior Center, 5353 Sunol Boulevard.
“We are pleased that ACCUSPLIT can help Axis Community Health continue to expand the excellent services they provide for people in the Tri-Valley area – particularly for those underserved in our healthcare system,” said W. Ron Sutton, CEO. “Our nation is shifting from treatment of illness to its prevention.
“Some models of our certified accurate pedometers were marked with pink ribbons and dedicated to financially supporting the fight against breast cancer. Our mission is promoting good health with an active lifestyle, encouraging us all to move more. That is why we have sponsored the Make A Difference for Pleasanton Festival with a Community Wellness Expo, and why Axis Community Health is a program we are proud to support.”
Sutton noted that both Axis and ACCUSPLIT are celebrating their 40 th anniversaries this year. Also, in addition to being the month that includes the 22nd National Make A Difference Day, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which makes the gift especially timely.
“Axis’s women’s health program provides comprehensive primary and preventative services, “ said or Sue Compton, Axis CEO. “This includes screening for cervical and breast cancer, family planning, pre-natal and obstetric care, and health education. This generous $15,000 contribution to Axis’s project will be used in support of women’s health services in our new facility. The gift will help make more preventative services available and ensure early treatment of cervical and breast cancers.”
Axis Community Health has been a safety net provider for Tri-Valley residents for 40 years, providing services today for more than 14,000 people. A non-profit organization offering “quality, affordable, accessible and compassionate care for all community members,” it is the only provider of medical care for low-income and uninsured Tri-Valley residents.
“As the community has grown, so has the need for services,” said Compton. “In order to meet this need, Axis recently purchased a building that will be renovated as a new health facility, set to open in 2014. Along with adding capacity, the project enables us to achieve our goals of fully-integrating medical and mental health services in a ‘medical home’ care delivery model that has proven effective in achieving excellent outcomes for patients."
Plans call for the site, in Pleasanton’s Hacienda Business Park at 5925 W. Las Positas Blvd., to include 30 exam rooms, space for mental health counseling, patient education classrooms, a pharmacy and other support services. The overall project cost will be $9 million.
“The new facility will significantly impact healthcare in the Tri-Valley,” explained Compton. “More people will be able to access primary and preventive care, resulting in better health outcomes. When people receive regular preventive care, they remain healthier and are able to avoid costly emergency room usage
and hospitalizations.
“Axis has experienced rapid growth in the need for services over the past few years. In the last year, Tri- Valley residents made more than 115,000 visits to one of our five locations,” Compton reported. “More than 400 new medical patients are coming to Axis for primary care each month, and market studies indicate this trend will continue due to three factors: the growing population in the Tri-Valley (a 22% increase in 10 years); the economic downturn that has left more Tri-Valley families in need of access to affordable, quality primary care; and changes in the healthcare delivery system."
Axis’s two medical clinics are operating at full capacity (the main site on Railroad Ave. in Pleasanton, and satellite clinic in Livermore). Axis presently has 10,000 medical patients and expects to serve 20,000 patients by 2014. All of Axis’s present service sites will remain in operation.
For information about Axis services, call 925-462-1755 or visit us at www.axishealth.org.
