A girl picks out a new toothbrush during a SeaTac community resource fair held recently. The fair included free dental examinations.
SeaTac and Tukwila are the first two cities in a pilot program that will bring techniques used in third world countries to improve healthcare for local diverse, low-income residents.
The "Global to Local" Initiative will be announced on Monday, Oct. 11 at the Bell Harbor International Conference in Seattle. The initiative will be unveiled as part of a two-day healthcare symposium. The U.S Surgeon General and the CEO of GE are among speakers scheduled.
Swedish Medical Center, Washington State Global Health Alliance and Public Health Seattle/King County are teaming up on the pilot project.
A Swedish representative said the three organizations are committed "to work together to address local disparities in local healthcare through a groundbreaking initiative: 'Global to Local,' a new approach in applying global healthcare solutions, as used to provide affordable healthcare in third world countries, to provide local solutions to healthcare challenges in underserved populations.
"This program will act as a pilot program for what could become a national model. SeaTac and Tukwila have been designated as the first communities to benefit from the Global to Local initiative, intended to provide innovative and community-driven solutions to providing healthcare in diverse, lower-income populations."
Until a health center opened at the Lutheran Community Services building on South 188th Street, there were no physician's offices in SeaTac.
A healthcare study by King County released in 2008 shows healthcare lagging in the Highline area.
According to the survey, the Tyee High complex in SeaTac had the highest number of youth who had never visited a primary care physician in the county. SeaTac's teen birth, teen smoking and uninsured rates were twice the county average.
Burien, SeaTac and Tukwila had the highest number of uninsured people in the county despite having employment rates similar to the county average.
The study also found that a south county resident was four times more likely to die of diabetes than a Mercer Island resident.
