KEYSTONE HEALTH CENTER PARTICIPATES IN COVER THE UNINSURED WEEK National campaign features health centers who care for five million uninsured people "We are participating in Cover The Uninsured Week-because Community Health Centers alone cannot solve the problems of the uninsured," Cochran explained.   (Chambersburg, PA) -- With new numbers showing a dramatic boost in the number of the nation's uninsured, Keystone Health Center joined the groundswell of support to raise public awareness about the more than 41 million uninsured Americans during Cover The Uninsured Week (CTUW). New data also shows that Americans who do have insurance are worried about losing it. The surveys come as Community Health Centers join the coast-to-coast CTUW campaign aimed at highlighting the growing problem of the uninsured and the need for a viable solution. "Community Health Centers know well the faces of the uninsured in America," Joanne Cochran, president and CEO of Keystone Health Center said. "They are our hardworking neighbors and friends whose jobs do not provide them insurance or who cannot afford private coverage. We are proud that we provide vital, life-saving preventive and primary health care to every man, woman and child who comes through our doors. But for every uninsured patient we help there are 10 other people who are sick and need life-saving specialty and inpatient care, or prescribed drugs and diagnostic tests, and don't have the insurance to cover it. That is why we are participating in Cover The Uninsured Week --because Community Health Centers alone cannot solve the problems of the uninsured." CTUW will take place March 10-16, in communities coast-to-coast. Sponsored by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the California Endowment, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and 15 other national partners, CTUW activities nationwide include hundreds of town hall meetings, on-campus activities, health fairs, business labor events and interfaith breakfasts. Community Health Centers will play a leading role in CTUW by participating in scores of health fairs throughout the nation. National Association of Community Health Centers, Inc.®   The participation of Keystone Health Center in CTUW comes as Community Health Centers are trying to expand across the country and also meet growing patient loads. Health Centers are one of the few places to which the uninsured can turn for care as "safety net providers," a health care network which offers primary and preventive health care services to any one who needs it, regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay. Health Centers do such a great job of providing health care that a recent report by the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine cited them as part of the solution to the current health care crisis. Health Centers are the family doctor to nearly 13 million people, and are ready to help more. President Bush has made it a goal to expand health centers and serve twice as many people over the next 5 years. Keystone Health Center, a public, non-profit organization, provides high-quality medical, obstetric, gynecological and dental health care and, when needed, social services to all Franklin County residents and the surrounding areas, including the underserved populations. Presently, Keystone operates five primary care sites: Keystone Health Center family practice, Keystone Dental Center, Keystone Women's Care, Keystone Health Center-Path Valley satellite family practice, and the State Migrant Farmworker Administration office. Keystone also operates one year-round migrant and seasonal farmworker site in Berks County and one seasonal farmworker site in Adams County. Services to migrant farmworkers are also provided through outreach workers and contracted providers across the Commonwealth. For more information regarding Keystone Health Center, please visit the website at www.keystonehealth.org. For more information regarding this news release, please contact Karen Gross at (717) 975-2148, kgross@hersheyphilbin.com, or visit the newsroom at www.hersheyphilbin.com. ###

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