Each Wednesday this month, we’ve been posting about the importance of getting kids back to their well visits and make sure their vaccines are up-to-date. For a lot of us, it’s easy to prioritize our children’s health. But, regular visits with your primary care provider as an adult are important to monitor health, especially if you’re a patient suffering from chronic illness, like diabetes, high blood pressure, COPD or asthma.
“Keeping regular follow-up visits will guarantee refill of your medications and also improve control of your chronic conditions,” said Richmond Lead Provider Gina Dabney, APRN. “Regular follow-up visits also give us a chance to pick up on any new conditions that otherwise might have been missed.”
It is critical for relatively healthy patients to complete regular screenings, like mammograms, pap smears, colon cancer screenings, lung cancer screenings, and more. Regular screenings help providers and patients catch serious illnesses early, and are also helpful to talk about ways to prevent serious illness in the future.
“I often use my mom as my biggest example of the importance of health screenings,” said Irvine Lead Provider Tammy Gross, APRN. “She is 82 years old. Her first cancer diagnosis was 28 years ago. She was diagnosed for the first time with bladder cancer, and had a few recurrences–but currently has no signs. 18 years ago, her first breast cancer diagnosis came, and she had a recurrence this year. She has also had melanoma removed. At this time, she is cancer free and healthy. If she had not done her preventative screenings and been vigilant with her provider, I would have lost her 28 years ago.”
Many patients have very real obstacles to overcome to get to the doctor. Part of White House Clinics’ mission is to eliminate these obstacles to exceptional health care. We do this by connecting people to resources that can help with problems like transportation needs and food insecurity. If you have any concerns about your health or face challenges that impact your ability to get to the doctor, please call 1-855-WH-APPTS. We have a dedicated staff ready to help.