Our mission is to provide access to health services for the underserved, primarily Hispanic Community, in Jefferson and Shelby Counties.

Brief Overview The Board of Cahaba Valley Health Care was formed in April 2000. We conducted a needs assessment among Latinos and discovered that the major needs of this community were vision care, dental care, and acute care. In August 2001 we began implementing vision screenings and providing glasses in local churches with Latino congregations. In 2002, CVHC began to explore ways to obtain necessary dental care for Latinos. We began offering dental triage as a parallel service to our vision screenings in November 2003 and established a dental care referral network.

Access: CVHC provides access to health services for the Hispanic Community in central Alabama. We target the Hispanic Community, but will provide services to anyone, regardless of race, age, sex, or religion.
We make our services more available to the Hispanic Community by addressing three barriers that Hispanics have regarding their ability to access needed health services. The three barriers are:
1. Access -- Many in the Hispanic Community find it difficult to access normal medical care because medical hours are not conducive to those with hourly jobs working 6-7 days a week. By conducting screenings in churches with Hispanic congregations on Sunday afternoons, we provide our services at times and places that are easily accessible to the Hispanic Community.
2. Cultural Sensitivity -- Many in the Hispanic Community find it imposing to deal with medical personnel that do not speak Spanish, and are not sensitive to their specific cultural issues. Approximately 70% of screening volunteers/staff speak Spanish and many are Hispanic. Those who do not speak Spanish have an interpreter at his/her station. All of our literature and charts are in Spanish and English.
3. Trust -- Many in the Hispanic Community --specifically those who are undocumented- find it difficult to trust the medical establishment. The Hispanic Community trusts us primarily because their churches trust us and they trust their churches.

Vision: In 2001 we began our services with vision care. To accomplish our mission, we formed collaborations with UAB School of Optometry, UAB Department of Ophthalmology, SightSavers, Lenscrafters, Vestavia Eye Care, John Sasser Opticians, Inverness Eye Care, and Volunteer Optometric Service to Humanity (VOSH) including the Alabama chapter and the student chapter at UAB. Our vision screenings are performed by licensed optometrists, assisted by approximately 18 volunteers at each screening. We provide new reading glasses that have been donated or purchased. Because of our partnership with a local optician, we are able to fit patients at our screenings with custom made glasses. These glasses may be bifocals or address the problem of astigmatism and other eye conditions. Persons present for vision screening who need further care are referred for full exams and specialty services to the above mentioned collaborators, a member of our network of private practitioners, or to the CVHC Vision Referral Clinic. This clinic is located at the Retina Consultants of Alabama office at the Callahan Eye Foundation Hospital. The ophthalmologists of Retina Consultants generously donate their space for use by our volunteer ophthalmologists 4 times a year. At these clinics, our volunteer ophthalmologists perform complete eye examinations and eye care services. Children are referred to SightSavers, and are seen by Dr. Marcela Frazier, a bilingual optometrist at the UAB School of Optometry and a member of our Board. We began an educational program on occupational eye safety in 2006. This program includes tips on how to prevent eye injuries and each participant receives free safety glasses on site.

Nutrition: In 2006, we identified nutrition education as a basic need for our clients. We decided that our screenings should include information on reading food labels as well as information about the food pyramid. We began collaboration with Dr. Amanda Brown at the UAB School of Nutrition Sciences. We then enlisted Spain Park High School students to help create instructional material for the program. The CVHC nutrition program was presented at our screenings for the first time in January of 2007.

Dental: In 2002, CVHC began exploring ways to obtain necessary dental care for Latinos. While seeking collaborations, we found that the local dental community was also aware of this need. We enlisted the help and expertise of Birmingham District Dental Society, Birmingham Health Care, the Birmingham Chapter of the National Dental Association, and UAB School of Dentistry, and began offering dental screenings on December 7, 2003. Because we already do vision screenings at churches, dental triage occurs as a parallel and free service. This triage is performed by volunteer dentists licensed to practice in the state of Alabama. Upon identifying people in need of further services, we coordinate care by referral to the CVHC Dental Clinic, Birmingham Health Care’s Northside Dental Clinic, the UAB School of Dentistry, Jefferson County Health Department, or a member of our growing network of private dentists. We also provide interpreters at our referral clinics. Our referral clinics are held 34 times a year in our dental offices.  We see an average of 15 patients 34 times a year at these Sunday afternoon dental clinics. At the clinics patients may receive fillings, X-rays, extractions, and cleanings. Performance of such services has been approved by the State Board of Dental Examiners. Patients who require services beyond the scope of the CVHC Dental Clinic are referred to the Birmingham Health Care Clinic, the UAB School of Dentistry, or private dentists.  Children are referred to UAB School of Dentistry or Jefferson County Department of Health.
We have developed a Dental Hygiene Education Program for both children and adults. The purpose of this project is to provide our patients, primarily Hispanic children, dental health education programs in conjunction with preventive programs. Our oral health and nutrition education materials are designed for children, parents, caregivers and/or child care professionals. Our dental health education is conducted at schools, health fairs, churches and social service agencies. Through these dental hygiene courses, we provide instruction in the proper use of oral care products, and provide patients with these products.

This presentation is made to all of our screening attendees. This presentation includes colorful and useful instruction in brushing, flossing and dental nutrition. After this, patients receive a toothbrush, toothpaste, egg timer, and floss. Egg timers take 3 minutes to fully drain, which indicates how long one should brush his/her teeth. We also provide information on baby bottle tooth decay. Our volunteer educators use Max, a horse puppet with large teeth, to enhance the education component. One of our bi-lingual volunteers, Carol Fite, is a professional puppeteer and operates Max, as well as her personal, Hispanic puppet named Luisa. Max and Luisa have some serious conversations!

Who we serve

We serve Jefferson and Shelby County Residents. We primarily serve Hispanics, but will see anyone regardless of race, age, sex, or religion.

1.                  We have only 5 paid employees. Our screenings and follow up clinics are otherwise staffed by volunteer dentists, dental hygienists, optometrists, ophthalmologists, Spanish students, and other community volunteers. We also have volunteers from advanced Spanish classes at local universities, high school students, dental students, and optometry students. 

2.                  We collaborate with: UAB School of Optometry, UAB School of Dentistry, John Sasser Opticians, Callahan Eye Foundation Hospital, SightSavers of Alabama, Birmingham District Dental Society, The National Dental Association, Birmingham Health Care, Cooper Green Hospital, M-Power Ministries Medical Clinic, churches, Lenscrafters, Vestavia Eye Care, and Inverness Eye Care.

3.                  We receive referrals from M-Power, HICA, Cooper Green Hospital, schools, churches, and individuals 

4.                  Our screenings are held at times and places that are accessible to the Hispan ic population—on Sunday afternoons at local churches. They are also culturally sensitive, with at least one Spanish speaker at every station, and we serve individuals without regard to ability to pay or immigration status. We publicize screenings on our web site, through radio announcements, at churches, and through ESL classes. Hispanic ministers also distribute flyers. CVHC conducts screenings at Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist, Christian, Baptist, Episcopal, and non-denominational churches.