Dental Clinic: SANTA YNEZ TRIBAL HEALTH CLINIC

Our Clinic is located on the Santa Ynez Chumash Reservation and serves 2,635 Native American and low income patients in the surrounding area. Our Clinic has Federally Qualified Health Clinic [FQHC] status, and we see a significant population of insured, underinsured and uninsured patients. Over 87 of the patient population we serve is under 200 of the poverty level or 2,286 patients. In addition, 30 of our patients are under 100 of the poverty level. They are employed in agriculture, the hotel industry, or as domestic workers. Many of our low income patients are Native Americans and some are suspicious of western medicine. They are also at risk for specific health conditions, including diabetes and hypertension. Some of our Spanish speaking patients are afraid we may report them to immigration. In terms of race and ethnicity, we serve Native Americans, Asian/Pacific Islanders, African Americans and Caucasians. The racial data is not complete for all categories; however we did see 24 American Indians/Alaskan Natives in 2006. Ethnicity data was collected as: Hispanic – 41, Non-Hispanic – 49, and Unknown – 10. Our patients range in age from: newborn infants to children [0-12 years] – 24, teenagers [13-19 years] – 14, adults [20-44 years] – 34, adults [45-64 years] – 20, and geriatric patients [65 and over] – 8.