South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Palm Beach County’s largest free clinic gets major boost with $1 million in funding
BOYNTON BEACH — Boynton Beach’s Caridad Center, the largest free health clinic in Florida, will be making some upgrades after receiving more than $1 million in federal funding.
Congresswoman Lois Frankel announced the sizeable grant during a recent news conference at the center, located on Boynton Beach Boulevard, just west of Florida’s Turnpike. The money was secured as part of this year’s congressional spending bill.
The Caridad Center provides medical, vision and dental care for the uninsured and underserved children and families of Palm Beach County.
The funding will be allocated for a variety of services.
Laura Kallus, CEO of the Caridad Center, said the money will allow them to purchase new equipment for their dental clinic, including a digital panoramic machine, digital X-ray sensors and an oral surgery machine. Additionally, they’ll be able to build a new roof and awning, as well as provide upgrades to their air conditioning, on-site storage, information-technology department and security.
Most importantly, though, the clinic will be adding a mobile clinic, which will allow them to reach more people throughout Palm Beach County.
“This is something we’ve been hoping for for a long time,” Kallus said. “People come to us from all over the county and it’s kind of a difficult reach for people who don’t have transportation.
“We’ve been asked by other communities if we have any type of mobile unit that we could [use]. This unit we’re hoping will have one dental chair and one exam room, so we can use it for dual purposes. We can go out to the Glades, Pahokee, areas that really need us that have a hard time accessing us.”