Dientes Community News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

"We've made great improvements since 2012," said Dr. Sung Sohn, the dental director at Salud Para La Gente. "But more work needs to be done."

The day will include sessions on preventative dental and medical care from Dientes Community Dental and Santa Cruz Community Health, as well as sessions on how to help kids and families with trauma. The event will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Live Oak Elementary School at 1916 Capitola Road, Santa Cruz.

Oral health inequities for children in Santa Cruz County have improved in recent years, but more work is needed to address gaps in care for low-income, teenage and elderly residents. Of the county's 82,000 residents on Medi-Cal insurance, only 30,000 or about 36.5% are accessing dental care according to Dientes CEO Laura Marcus.

"Community health center employees across Santa Cruz County — and all over the United States — were celebrated during National Health Center Week, Aug. 6-12," writes Maritza Lara in a Guest Commentary. "Nationally, health centers provide comprehensive health care services to more than 30 million patients across 14,500 communities annually. In Santa Cruz County, the Safety Net Clinic Coalition serves 1 in 3 local residents."

Santa Cruz County leaders and health care partners broke ground on a new housing and wellness site."Today we put a shovel in the ground and say that Santa Cruz County goes forward together," said Manu Koenig, Santa Cruz County Supervisor. Construction is now started in Santa Cruz's Live Oak community. Dientes Community Dental, Mid Pen Housing, Santa Cruz Community Health, along with numerous donors such as Dominican Hospital, Sutter Health, Kaiser Permanente, broke ground on a health care and affordable housing campus. It's in a community where nearly 15% of Live Oak Elementary School st...