Thanks to the Community Health Center’s (CHC) new initiative, members of the community are starting to take to the streets in order to lose a few pounds.
On Tuesday, Sept. 7, the CHC had its inaugural Nutrition Walk and Talk to promote physical fitness in the Middletown area. Participants gathered in front of the center and walked for an hour, engaging in conversation as they coursed through the streets of Middletown.
The CHC holds the walk every Tuesday and Thursday from noon until 1 p.m. The walk’s path is different every time, and a patient actually led the group the first time. It is open to anyone and free.
While only few people showed up for the first Nutrition Walk and Talk, the CHC remains optimistic about future turnouts.
“It was two the first time, then four the second, then more and more each time,” said Larisa Pazmino, Director of Grants and Developments at the CHC. “Our turnout is building slowly, but that is expectable because it takes some time for word to spread through the community.”
The program is funded by a $50,000 grant the CHC received to fight obesity. The CHC also cites diabetes and asthma as the most prevalent health issues in the Middletown area. AIDS/HIV and domestic abuse are also pressing issues in the community.
The City of Middletown has also been supporting the efforts of the CHC. The city recently gave the CHC a grant to improve its facility for the battered women’s shelter, which opened only a year ago. The CHC has started to improve the shelter’s façade by adding porches and a fire escape.
The Community Health Center provides health education and services to areas in Middlesex County. Additionally, CHC offers dental services, counseling and a variety of other special medical services.
In addition to the free programs like Nutrition Walk and Talk, the CHC is also one of the few health facilities in Middlesex County that offers services to people either on public health care or without health insurance.
According to Pazmino, the greatest challenge in health care today is getting health services those living without health insurance. Pazmino identified the severely short list of the number of health-care providers for uninsured people as a central problem in the issue of health care.
If Middlesex County residents without insurance can find a facility that will offer them medical care, Pazmino said they would probably have an even harder time finding dental care in the area.
There are very few dental providers for children who are on HUSKY [Healthcare for Uninsured Kids and Youth], Pazmino said.
Furthermore, Pazmino claims the state of Connecticut has not been giving adequate assistance to residents. She said the state’s general assistance does not provide adequate compensation for uninsured people who pay for treatment out of their pockets up front.
“We were offered a contract [by the state for compensating patients] that was unacceptable,” Pazmino said. “Since we didn’t sign it, people are being sent elsewhere, even as far as New Haven.”
This contract was proposed to the CHC under the administration of former Connecticut Governor John Rowland. The CHC remains hopeful that a new state administration next year will provide it with more funding.
The CHC is located at 635 Main Street. To contact the center, call (860) 347-6971.
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