Achievable

In 2008, Achievable realized the need to address the critical issue of lack of healthcare services for individuals with developmental disabilities, who suffer from major health disparities due to disproportionate difficulty finding, accessing and paying for primary and specialty health care services. Since then, Achievable has redirected its focus towards improving access to healthcare for our community members. This year, Achievable has been rapidly working towards developing our own comprehensive community health center providing primary and specialty care for individuals with developmental disabilities.

VISION:

The Achievable Clinic will be a leader in providing high quality, comprehensive and coordinated health care to individuals with developmental disabilities and their families throughout the Los Angeles region.

THE INITIATIVE:

We will develop and operate a fully licensed community health center to provide a complete range of vital, high quality primary and specialty health care to thousands of children and adults with developmental disabilities across Los Angeles.

Our clinic will operate using the Patient Centered Medical Home model of care and will be led by a highly trained and caring medical and support staff committed to long-term positive health outcomes for clinic patients.

THE NEED:

People with developmental disabilities suffer from high rates of poor health, chronic illness, morbidity and preventable mortality. Despite complex health needs, these individuals are less likely to have access to quality health care.

Economic disparities, limited pools of health care providers willing or trained to work with our clients, low rates of reimbursement from public insurance programs and a fragmented health care system are among some of the obstacles to receiving a standard of care necessary for improving long-term health outcomes.

Several health care providers have emerged to meet the health care needs of various underserved populations in Los Angeles. However, to our knowledge there is no health care institution in the Los Angeles area attempting to develop a clinic focusing on the meeting the unmet health care needs of the community of people living with developmental disabilities. The Achievable Clinic is the first of its kind.

THE CURRENT CLINIC:

Currently, the clinic operates 24 hours per week and provides assessments, consultations, mental health and specialty health care services for approximately 250 individuals with developmental disabilities.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES:

Achievable aims to expand clinic operations to 40 hours per week, gain community clinic licensure and offer a complete range of primary and specialty health care services to over 550 patients in the first year of expanded operations. Following are the specific goals Achievable aims to meet within the next year:

1) Raise sufficient funds to outfit and operate The Clinic for the first 12-24 months while obtaining licensing and public funding.

2) Meet criteria and obtain California community clinic licensing.

3) Begin operating The Clinic with a full complement of primary care and specialty care services.

4) Develop a sustainable model of clinical care that exceeds quality benchmarks.

5) Share and disseminate results, best practices and lessons learned to other organizations serving individuals with developmental disabilities enable replication of the clinic model statewide.

FUNDRAISING:

We would like to extend our sincere appreciation to The Special Hope Foundation, Health Resources and Services Administration, the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation and the Wolfen Family Foundation for their generous support of The Achievable Clinic! With this support, Achievable is more than halfway towards our goal of increasing access to high quality, comprehensive health care for individuals with developmental disabilities.

Please contact us at (310) 258-4256 or info@achievable.org if you would like to contribute to improving the health of underserved individuals.