Free health fair coming to Ben Lomond

>> Residents of the San Lorenzo Valley looking to access health care services, regardless of their ability to pay, will have an opportunity to do so this weekend and beyond.

Santa Cruz Community Health announced it will be hosting a health fair at Highlands Park Senior and Community Center in Ben Lomond Saturday, complete with health care professionals and services that include COVID-19 and flu vaccinations, COVID-19 test kits, Medi-Cal enrollment assistance, as well as presentations and activities surrounding physical and emotional needs.

“The intent is to invite the community in to see not only the full scope of what we offer at Santa Cruz Community Health, but also some of our partnering agencies,” Santa Cruz Community Health's Chief Strategy and Impact Office Dena Loijos told the Sentinel.

“We see ourselves as a hub of information for sharing community resources and health care.”

Loijos explained that the San Lorenzo Valley has a large elderly population that has often expressed a desire to have services in the valley itself so a lengthy and sometimes treacherous city commute isn't necessary. The longtime health care nonprofit — which has clinics in Santa Cruz and Live Oak — opened a new Ben Lomond clinic in early 2022, but its rollout of services has been slow due to licensing and certification issues.

Loijos said the clinic is now ready for a more robust rollout. “We can really now offer the full scope of services that we were hoping to offer,” said Loijos. The clinic at 9500 Central Ave. in Ben Lomond plans to offer behavioral health, prenatal, substance use treatment services and more.

Lapsing declarations

The fair is being held as the landscape of the COVID-19 response is shifting.

Nearly three years after being enacted, emergency declarations in response to

COVID-19 at both state and federal levels will soon expire. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced in October that California's will lapse Feb. 28 and President Joe Biden followed up with a similar announcement in January that the federal declaration will end May 11.

Both orders primarily assisted the COVID-19 response effort by loosening rules to streamline health care services such as granting pharmacists and pharmacist technicians the