Kaweah Delta Medical Center - The Bridge

What is it?

The Bridge assists patients by linking them with primary health care providers, continuous health insurance, mental health or substance abuse counseling and treatment, housing, and various other social and medical services. The program's main goals are to improve health outcomes, reduce the number of unnecessary emergency department (ED) visits, and stabilize patients' lives by addressing their unmet needs.

Who is it for?

Frequent users of the hospital's ED.

Why do they do it?

Thousands of Tulare County residents regularly use the ED as their primary care provider, resulting in sporadic health care.

Impact

To date, The Bridge has assisted more than 700 patients. For patients with one-year data, ED visits decreased by 44 percent (380 fewer visits) from the year prior to enrollment in the program. As a result, costs for ED visits for these patients decreased 39 percent ($113,049).

Contact: John Tyndal
Program Coordinator
Telephone: 559-624-2605
E-mail: jtyndal@kdhcd.org