Part Three of the State of Southwest Baltimore Series will focus on an imperative social driver of health – access to healthcare. Healthcare Access is the ability to obtain appropriate, timely, affordable, and convenient healthcare services such as prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and management of diseases and illnesses. The ability to obtain healthcare is vital in securing the timely treatment of illnesses, management of chronic conditions, and allows for preventative services.
Inaccessible healthcare can lead to delayed diagnoses, untreated conditions, and poorer health outcomes. In 2021, there was only one primary care physician per 860 people in Baltimore City and more than 3,800 hospital stays (per 100,000 people enrolled in Medicare) might have been prevented by preventative outpatient treatment.
Catholic Charities aims to make healthcare services accessible to uninsured immigrants throughout the Baltimore region through the Esperanza Health Center Health Services Clinic (ECHC). The clinic offers free medical and dental services, as well as no-cost primary and preventive care for adults and children. In 2023, the clinic serviced over 3,500 visits for those in need. Catholic Charities also offers eight outpatient mental health clinics that provide mental health counseling for adults, families, and children, as well as substance use treatment.
In Fiscal Year 2023, Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital supported healthcare services for community members in need by providing nearly $20 Million in charity care to the community.
Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital also shows its commitment to managing its healthcare resources as a service to the entire community by providing financial assistance for certain individuals who receive emergency or other medically necessary care at the hospital.
Outside hospital walls, Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital sponsors health fairs and wellness programs with St. Joseph’s Monastery Parish and other organizations to improve community health awareness.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services defines social drivers of health, also known as the social determinants of health, as the “conditions in the environments where people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks.”
The State of Southwest Baltimore Series aims to examine the presence of the six social drivers of health in Southwest Baltimore and how local community organizations are helping create healthier communities.
