WTOC, Savannah, Georgia, news, weather and sports | Health summit underway in Savannah
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By Jamie Ertle-Durden - email
SAVANNAH, GA (WTOC) - Congressman Jack Kingston held an open session this morning for the Georgia Association for Primary Health Care Summit.
The organization's mission is to improve access to comprehensive primary health care services, like clinics, for all medically underserved Georgians.
"The community health clinics have a great impact on our state because they provide health care for the working poor, folks that tend to fall through the cracks," said Kingston. "Maybe they're on medicaid, maybe they're not, but they don't have any other source. Ordinarily they'd be going to the emergency rooms and they clog the arteries of the hospitals. So, they can go to a community health clinic such as the Curtis Cooper Clinic or the JC Lewis Clinic of Savannah and it saves taxpayers by providing this service."
The main problem Kingston addressed is getting funding for these types of clinics during tough economic times, especially when Medicare and Medicaid don't always reimburse for some treatments.
The summit will continue through Friday.
