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Patient Numbers Up at Neighborhood Clinics in Santa Barbara

Written by KEYT Reporter

Story Created: Mar 19, 2010 at 6:11 PM PST

Story Updated: Mar 22, 2010 at 11:02 AM PST

With many residents losing jobs, or facing higher health care costs, the number of patients at the Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics is going up significantly.

"We have seen a big spike in the last 12 months. An average of 400 new patients every single month," said Cynder Sinclair, with the Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics.

Some new patients have never been there before and didn't even know the clinics for those on low incomes, ever existed. "But now they're losing their jobs and or losing their insurance or they have insurance but it's way high deductible and there's no where else they can go so they are coming to us."

One of the newer patients is a well known musician, Rick Reeves who found himself in a hospital emergency room last year, diagnosed with diabetes, and on a life threatening spiral. He hadn't seen a doctor in years.

"I wasn't in shape at all. I didn't realize how terrible I felt, " said Reeves who has changed his diet and lost a noticeable amount of weight from a year ago. He worked out a care plan and a pay plan with the Neighborhood Clinics, which is all he could afford. The impact on his life was priceless.

With the help of a nutritionist. Reeves says, "I really dieted and exercised diabetes out of my system. I mean it's never out of your system . You're always diabetic,but it's so far back in a corner now. Where it will stay."

At the three clinics and dental center, there's now about 4000 patient visits a month.

But funding never matches the costs and the government's financial help is far from a shot in the arm. "In the last 12 month period the state and feds have cut us a little over 700 thousand dollars which is about ten percent of our budget," said Sinclair.

Senior Reporter John Palminteri has more in this report.
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