About Us

STERLING AREA HEALTH CENTER MISSION STATEMENT

VISION: A lasting partnership with individuals we serve in order to maximize the health outcomes of our communities.

MISSION: Sterling Area Health Center will utilize teamwork and partnership with our patients to provide high quality, comprehensive primary care, dental, and behavioral health services for the entire community, with emphasis on the medically underserved.

VALUES: We are a comprehensive team including multidisciplinary health care providers, support staff, and a volunteer governing board devoted to providing high quality, cost effective, holistic health care services in a fiscally responsible manner, regardless of the patient’s ability to pay. We are responsive to the community’s needs and strive to reduce barriers in planning and providing prevention oriented health care. We are committed to pursue excellence in compassionate health care regardless of age, gender, or life circumstance.

YOUR PATIENT CENTERED MEDICAL HOME

Sterling Area Health Center is a BCBS recognized Patient Centered Medical Home and is accredited as a PCMH by The Joint Commission.

The Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) is an approach to providing comprehensive care for children, youth, adults and the elderly.

The PCMH is a health care setting that facilitates partnerships between individual patients, (and when appropriate their family) and their personal health care provider.

Each patient has an ongoing relationship with a personal physician and / or health care provider who is trained to provide first contact, continuous and comprehensive care.

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Your personal physician leads a team of individuals at the practice level who collectively take responsibility for your ongoing medical care.

The personal physician is responsible for providing for all the patient’s health care needs or taking responsibility for appropriately arranging care with other qualified professionals. This includes care for all stages of life; acute care; chronic care; preventive services; and end of life care.

Care is coordinated and / or integrated across all elements of the complex health care system (e.g., subspecialty care, hospitals, home health agencies, nursing homes) and the patient’s community (e.g., family, public and private community-based services).

Care is facilitated by registries and other information technology to assure that patients get the indicated care when and where they need and want it. And that the care is provided in a culturally and linguistically appropriate manner.

The Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) is an approach to providing comprehensive care for children, youth and adults. The PCMH is a health care setting that facilitates partnerships between individual patients and their personal physicians, and when appropriate, the patient’s family.

OUR HALLMARKS ARE QUALITY AND SAFETY

Practices advocate for their patients to support the attainment of optimal, patient-centered outcomes that are defined by a care planning process driven by a compassionate, robust partnership between physicians, patients, and the patient’s family.

Evidence-based medicine and clinical decision-support tools guide decision making.

Physicians in the practice will accept accountability for continuous quality improvement through voluntary engagement in performance measurement and improvement.

Patients actively participate in decision making. Feedback is sought to ensure patients’ expectations are being met.

Information technology is utilized appropriately to support optimal patient care, performance measurement, patient education and enhanced communication.

Practices go through a voluntary recognition process by an appropriate nongovernmental entity to demonstrate that they have the capabilities to provide patient centered services consistent with the medical home model.

Patients and families participate in quality improvement activities at the practice level.

The nine consumer principles of Patient Centered Medical Home are:

  • In a patient-centered medical home, an interdisciplinary team guides care in a continuous, accessible, comprehensive and coordinated manner
  • The patient-centered medical home takes responsibility for coordinating its patients’ health care across care settings and services over time, in consultation and collaboration with the patient and family
  • The patient has ready access to care
  • The patient-centered medical home “knows” its patients and provides care that is whole person oriented and consistent with patients’ unique needs and preferences
  • Patients and clinicians are partners in making treatment decisions
  • Open communication between patients and the care team is encouraged and supported
  • Patients and their caregivers are supported in managing the patient’s health
  • The patient-centered medical home fosters an environment of trust and respect
  • The patient-centered medical home provides care that is safe, timely, effective, efficient, equitable, patient centered and family focused

OUR AWARDS AND HONORS

  • Joint Commission Accredited for Ambulatory and Behavioral Health Care
  • Joint Commission Certified Patient Centered Medical Home
  • Blue Cross / Blue Shield Designated Patient Centered Medical Home
  • Governors Award for Excellence for Improving Preventative Care in the Ambulatory Setting
  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Health Disparities Collaborative Partner
  • Health Centers are one of the most effective federal programs – ranked in the top 6% of all federal programs.
  • Sterling Area Health Center is a powerful economic engine and contributes 11.8 million annually to the local community
725 E. State Street, Sterling, MI 48659
Tel: 989-654-2491  •  Fax: 989-654-2190
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Sterling Area Health Center receives HHS funding and has Federal Public Health Service (PHS) deemed status with respect to certain health or health-related claims, including medical malpractice claims, for itself and its covered individuals. For more information about the legal protections offered to FTCA-deemed health centers and their employees, please click here.