The Boeing Bust of 1971 sent the local economy in King County, Washington, into a tailspin and left thousands of people without jobs. No means of income meant no way to pay for essential healthcare, and thus HealthPoint was born. What started as a grassroots response to this urgent need has since grown into a network of 11 health centers offering quality, affordable healthcare in low-income, medically underserved suburban neighborhoods.
In 2013, with support from a Murdock grant, HealthPoint built a new health center in Des Moines, Washington. The 36,000-square-foot center now serves 10,000 people with comprehensive medical, dental and behavioral health care, including hundreds of newly resettled refugee families.
One of the most important services HealthPoint provides is preventive cancer screenings. Every year it hosts a Crucial Catch event to highlight its breast cancer screening program, which provides no-cost mammograms to women who are underinsured or have no health insurance at all. These screenings help detect cancer at earlier stages, making it more treatable and giving women a better chance at fighting it.
The Murdock Trust applauds HealthPoint for carrying out its important mission in providing equal access to quality healthcare for all residents of King County.