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Central Table Meeting, Nov. 20 to Discuss New Action Plan
Building Healthy Communities, South Kern (BHC-SK) is in the process of creating a new Action Plan, which will be the plan everyone involved with will be working on implementing for the next five years.
BHC-SK distributed surveys, held four community meetings and focus groups throughout South Kern this past month to get community input on the future of BHC-SK and ask what they feel the goals should be from now until the year 2020.
The community meetings were held in each of the four South Kern Communities; Arvin, Lamont, Greenfield, and Weedpatch.
During the events, participants were asked to write a wish for what should be implemented to make South Kern a healthier community for each of the following areas: health, environment, recreation, and education. 
Over 400 people participated in giving input into the new Action Plan and the data collected from the community meetings, surveys and focus groups will help decide what issues get included in the BHC-SK Action Plan.
The results will be discussed at the Central Table Meeting this Thursday, November 20 at the David Head Center in Lamont. BHC-SK would like to thank everyone who participated in this important effort to build healthy communities in South Kern.
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Emergency Services Forum Held in Arvin
BHC-SK's Health Action Team partnered with Supervisor Leticia Perez this past month to host a forum in Arvin on how to access emergency services in rural areas of South Kern.
The Emergency Services forum met an objective from BHC-SK's Health Action Team, Action Plan to address the need for emergency services, a need that was identified after Arvin residents expressed their concerns to BHC-SK and local agencies about the lack of access to emergency services close to home. The nearest hospital is approximately 20 miles away from Arvin.
The forum gave residents the tools to identify emergency medical situations and options on handling them to potentially help avoid long drives and wait times to hospitals and urgent cares.
"The event was a success," said Bill Phelps, Chief of Operations for Clinica Sierra Vista and BHC-SK Health Action Team member. "The local agencies involved provided great resources to the community."
The Office of Supervisor Leticia Perez, BHC-SK, Dignity Health, Kern Family Health Care, Clinica Sierra Vista, Kern Medical Center, Kern County Public Health Services, Greater Bakersfield Legal Assistance, Kern County Fire Department, and Greenfield Family Resource Center organized the event.
"There was a lot of community engagement, between the community and the agencies present," added Phelps.
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South Kern Sol is looking for a few great student reporters to add to our team. If you want to develop your writing skills and help us tell the stories of South Kern, then we want to hear from you! Experience is not required, and all student reporters will receive stipends for their work.
