When neighborhoods don’t have access to preventative care, the whole city feels it. Hear from a familiar voice on why this work matters, and how you can help.

A familiar voice on a vital topic

There are some voices we instantly recognize. Actor William Shatner is one of them. And in a new video, he is using that voice to talk about something that affects every neighborhood in Los Angeles: access to affordable, quality healthcare.

“Nothing is more important than our health,” Shatner says, calling attention to the people across the country who are excluded from care because it costs too much, or because there simply aren’t enough clinics and providers in their neighborhoods.

It is a quiet message, but a powerful one. And it is why he is lending his voice in support of Via Care.

The problem we don’t talk about enough

When most people picture a healthcare crisis, they picture an emergency room. The truth is that most of the crisis happens long before anyone gets there.

Across Los Angeles, hundreds of thousands of our neighbors do not have a regular place to get a check-up, a cleaning, a screening, or a prenatal visit. For some, it is the cost. For others, it is the lack of providers in their ZIP code, a missing translator, a missing ride. Whatever the reason, the result is the same: care that could have been simple and inexpensive gets delayed until it isn’t anymore.

By the time those patients are finally seen, they are often in an emergency room, and so is everyone else. Wait times stretch. Treatment is more invasive. Costs climb. And the burden lands on the entire city, including hospitals and patients with nothing to do with the original gap in care.

Why preventative care matters

Preventative care is the quiet work that keeps people, and the system around them, healthy.

It is the cleaning that catches the cavity before it becomes a root canal. The screening that finds a condition early enough to treat. The prenatal visit that flags a complication before the delivery room. The conversation with a counselor that interrupts a mental health crisis before it spirals. Almost every dollar spent on prevention saves many more dollars, and many more outcomes, down the line.

For the donors and neighbors who fund this work, the connection is direct. When a community clinic catches something early in East L.A., a family avoids a hospital stay. A bed stays open in an ER across town. A wait time gets a little shorter. The pressure on the entire L.A. health system eases by one patient, and then another, and then another. Preventative care is one of the most powerful tools any city has, and Los Angeles is no exception.

How Via Care fits in

Since 2015, Via Care has been doing exactly this work. As a nationally recognized Federally Qualified Health Center and certified Patient-Centered Medical Home, we serve nearly 24,000 patients each year across 17 locations throughout Los Angeles County, with full-service sites in East L.A., South Gate, and Bellflower. We deliver comprehensive preventative and primary care to underserved communities, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay.

That care includes:

• Primary medical care for every stage of life, from pediatric well visits to senior services.
• Full-scope preventative and restorative dental care for children and adults.
• OB-GYN, women’s health, and prenatal care for expectant families.
• Behavioral health, addiction treatment, and enhanced case management.
• Health screenings, chronic disease care, immunizations, and family planning.
• An on-site pharmacy, mobile clinic services, and student health on five college campuses and at Garfield High School.

For many of the patients Via Care serves, this is the place where they can access consistent medical care from Via Care doctors, fill a prescription, or sit down with a counselor before a small problem turns into a big one. And for many more, it is the difference between getting care this month or putting it off another year, until it lands in an emergency room that was never the right place for it.

Healthcare is a right, not a privilege

Via Care is built on a simple belief: healthcare is a right, not a privilege. Everyone deserves access to quality healthcare. Patient by patient, appointment by appointment, that belief gets translated into action. A teenager getting timely care at the Garfield Wellness Center. A grandmother enrolling in Medi-Cal with the help of a bilingual specialist. A new mom holding her baby after months of prenatal visits she could afford.

None of that work happens without community support.

How you can help

William Shatner put it best in his message: “Any amount will make a difference in the health and lives of the people they serve.”

If our work matters to you, please consider making a gift today. Your donation helps Via Care keep its doors open, its providers in clinic, and its services available to anyone who walks in, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay. It is the most direct way to keep preventative care strong in Los Angeles.