Big Sandy Health Care and UnitedHealthcare to Hold Event for New Johnson County Facilities

WHAT: Big Sandy Health Care, Johnson County, KY, the City of Paintsville, KY and UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Kentucky will celebrate the Grand Opening of the new Johnson County Community Health Center.

The facility, which has been funded with $500,000 from UnitedHealthcare, is a new comprehensive primary care clinic that provides access to a wide array of health care services such as medical, laboratory, x-ray, pharmacy, dental, vision, behavioral health and will include important social services to serve the specific needs of Johnson and surrounding counties, such as community health workers, case managers, black lung counselors and insurance navigators.

Located in Paintsville, the health center will serve a rural area with high unmet medical and social need. Johnson is ranked among the least healthy counties in Kentucky. Access to quality care is a challenge in Johnson County, where there is just 1 primary care physician per 1,470 people (US average is 1,310:1), 1 dentist per 5,640 people (US average is 1,380:1), and 1 mental health provider per 540 people (US average is 340:1).

Additionally, there are several social, environmental and economic factors that make it challenging to achieve good health in Johnson County. For example, the median household income is $37,559 (versus $61,509 across Kentucky), 1 out of 4 people live in poverty, and more than 12% of households have no motor vehicles.

The new Johnson County Community Health Center has been built to provide a primary care medical home for the residents of Johnson and surrounding counties. It will provide people of all ages and social status with the clinical and social resources they need to improve their lives so they can thrive in their community.

WHO: Dean Shofner, CEO, Big Sandy Health Care, Inc.
Dr. Lesley Dotson, Chief Medical Officer, Big Sandy Health Care, Inc.
Mark McKenzie, Johnson County Judge Executive
Krista Hensel, CEO, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Kentucky

WHEN/WHERE: Thursday, January 25th, 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
* Ribbon-cutting scheduled at 11:45 a.m.

Johnson County Community Health Center
450 South Mayo Trail
Paintsville, KY 41240

MEDIA: B-roll opportunities available, interviews with representatives from Big Sandy Health Care and UnitedHealthcare.

About Big Sandy Health Care

Big Sandy Health Care has been on a mission for the last 50 years to transform the lives of eastern Kentuckians through accessible and compassionate healthcare, inspired by the legendary Eula Hall. Our commitment is to provide comprehensive primary care services to all patients, echoing Eula Hall’s legacy of tirelessly advocating for the health and well-being of all. At Big Sandy Health Care, we strive to break down barriers to quality healthcare, ensuring everyone receives the quality care they deserve, close to home.

Big Sandy Health Care offers a diverse range of specialties to cater to community health needs, encompassing family medicine, pediatrics, OB/GYN, podiatry, behavioral health, black lung services, optometry, dentistry, and school health. Additionally, we provide various patient services, such as an in-house laboratory, x-ray, the support of Community Health Workers, and the convenience of a pharmacy. Big Sandy Health Care is on a mission to improve lives by delivering quality care close to home.

About UnitedHealthcare UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people live healthier lives and making the health system work better for everyone by simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. In the United States, UnitedHealthcare offers the full spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers, and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with more than 1.6 million physicians and care professionals, and 8,000 hospitals and other care facilities nationwide. The company also provides health benefits and delivers care to people through owned and operated health care facilities in South America. UnitedHealthcare is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified health care company. For more information, visit UnitedHealthcare at www.uhc.com or follow UnitedHealthcare on LinkedIn.

Media Contacts:
Rosemary Armstrong
Big Sandy Health Care Inc.
(606) 886 8546
r.armstrong@bshc.org

Urko Lapedriza
UnitedHealthcare
(952) 251 6342
urko.lapedriza@uhc.com

The Southeast Kentucky Chamber of Commerce is located at 178 College Street in Pikeville and serves more than 500 businesses in eight Eastern Kentucky Counties: Floyd, Johnson, Knott, Lawrence, Letcher, Magoffin, Martin, and Pike. The Chamber’s mission is to serve the businesses of Southeastern Kentucky through a commitment to networking, advocacy, education, and collaboration as we partner together to enhance the business climate in our region.

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