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The Jordan Valley Community Health Center in Springfield will be expanding its care of women with a new program. KSMU’s Matt Evans has more.

“Our Healthy Start” is the name of the new program that’s focused on women and children’s health. Jordan Valley Community Health Center will add three more staff members and expand prenatal and OB/GYN services. Dr. Chan Ngo is the Medical Director at Jordan Valley Community Health Center and she says the center has always had prenatal and gynecological services.

“It’s just improving on what we already have here and really focusing more on it.”

The program will be located in the nearly-completed basement of the new health center. The basement will have about 15 more examination rooms as well as a group classroom for women. Dr. Ngo says ideally a pregnant mother would start in the program during her first trimester.

“That’s why we call it “Our Healthy Start.” Really it’s a healthy start for mom, a healthy start for baby, and once you have a healthy mom and a healthy baby, you’ll have a healthy person in the long run as an adult.”

Dr. Ngo says the program is not only for pregnant women, but for any woman or child.

“They don’t have to be pregnant to be enrolled in this program. So if they don’t have a primary care doctor and they need a pap smear they can just call us up.”

Dr. Ngo says the “Our Healthy Start” program has gradually been starting up the past month and the Jordan Valley Health Center is seeing some patients already who qualify for the program.

For KSMU News, I’m Matt Evans.

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