UCI Health Family Health Centers recognized for quality, enhancing access

UCI Health Family Health Centers recognized for quality, enhancing access

Centers in Anaheim, Santa Ana are among top federally qualified health centers in U.S.

Orange, Calif. - The UCI Health federally qualified health center with locations in Santa Ana and Anaheim have earned silver tier recognition from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) for consistently achieving high marks in 18 clinical quality measures. The recognition places the health centers in the top 11% to 20% of federally qualified health centers in the nation.

HRSA also recognized the centers for improving access to care with advances in health information technology for patients, including adopting an electronic health record system, offering telehealth services, exchanging health information electronically with other providers and collecting patient data on social risk factors.

The centers are led by Executive Director Dr. José Mayorga, a family medicine physician who has devoted his career to improving the health of underserved populations.

"The UCI Health Family Health Centers have a long history of providing essential healthcare services to medically underserved communities regardless of their ability to pay," he says.

"This recognition from HRSA validates the work taking place every day at these important facilities. We have consistently been recognized by HRSA for our top performance for the past four years."

40-year history of service

UCI Health Family Health Center ― Anaheim, which opened in 1979, and UCI Health Family Health Center ― Santa Ana, which opened in 1980, were established as the first and oldest federally qualified centers in Orange County in 1985 after meeting certain criteria, including:

• Serving a high-need community
• Having a community board made up of at least 51% health center patients
• Providing services on a sliding-fee scale
• Becoming an HRSA Health Center Program award recipient

The Anaheim and Santa Ana centers have made an impact on the health of countless Orange County children and adults.

Growing access to critical health services

Last year alone, whole-family healthcare was given to 28,000 patients across both locations. Of that, 22% were children, 72% were Hispanic/Latino and 97% were at or below the poverty line.

The centers provide essential healthcare services, including the diagnosis and treatment of diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma and arthritis, as well as care for women and children.

In 2023, the centers also had nearly 1,800 visits for dental care services and almost 3,500 visits for mental health services.

The UCI Health Family Health Center ― Santa Ana even has an 1,100-square-foot teaching kitchen, where group cooking sessions are taught for patients. The kitchen also hosts nutritional education programs for the community.

Addressing the toll of diabetes

In April 2024, the UCI Health Family Health Center ― Anaheim began hosting diabetes group medical visits, which provide comprehensive diabetes care in the group setting.

The program features an eight-week curriculum delivered in Spanish that addresses aspects of diabetes management, from insulin resistance to lifestyle factors. Each session includes hands-on activities, food and beverage demonstrations, and contributions from guest speakers on topics such as nutrition and mental health.

The group visits are part of a wider initiative at UC Irvine to combat diabetes in the Latino/a community, where nearly 40% of the adult population has been diagnosed. Latinos are also more likely to have prediabetes and are developing type 2 diabetes at younger ages.

Leading research that changes care

Being part of the UCI Health academic health system and the UC Irvine Susan & Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences makes the federally qualified health centers a unique and impactful presence in the county, Mayorga says.

The connection gives the center the ability to lead and publish research, filling a crucial gap in understanding the health of populations that have historically been left behind in clinical studies.

"Digital Innovation to Grow Quality Care Through an Interprofessional Care Team (DIG IT) Among Underserved Patients with Hypertension" is one such study that was published in the Annals of Family Medicine in September 2024.

UC Irvine faculty from the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing, the School of Medicine and the UCI Health Family Health Centers collaborated on a digital health intervention for patients with hypertension and at high risk for atherosclerotic heart disease (ASCVD).

Research has shown that medically underserved populations are 40% more likely to have hypertension and three times more likely to die from heart disease resulting from uncontrolled blood pressure.

Using remote blood pressure monitoring technology, comprehensive medication management, patient-centered care, the DIG IT team approach was twice as effective than standard hypertension care in reducing systolic blood pressure and the risk of ASCVD. Such care involves in-person clinic visits and no involvement of digital devices, telecommunication or pharmacists.

Training future health professionals

For more than four decades, healthcare professionals have received their training at the UCI Health Family Health Centers clinic sites, learning the principles for providing the highest level of primary care to the community.

Thanks to the centers' affiliation with the UC Irvine School of Medicine and the Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing, medical students, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and residents receive training in family medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology.

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About UCI Health

UCI Health, one of California's largest academic health systems, is the clinical enterprise of the University of California, Irvine. The system comprises its main campus UCI Medical Center, a 459-bed, acute care hospital in Orange, Calif., four hospitals and affiliated physicians of the UCI Health Community Network in Orange and Los Angeles counties and ambulatory care centers across the region. Recognized as a Top Hospital by The Leapfrog Group, UCI Medical Center provides tertiary and quaternary care and is home to Orange County's only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, high-risk perinatal/neonatal program and American College of Surgeons-verified Level I adult and Level II pediatric trauma center, gold level 1 geriatric emergency department and regional burn center. UCI Health serves a region of nearly 4 million people in Orange County, western Riverside County and southeast Los Angeles County. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.