Fourteen Health Centers in Georgia Receive Sesame Street Reading Corners from UnitedHealthcare to Encourage Early Reading and Healthy Living Among Children

UnitedHealthcare is donating Sesame Street reading corners to 14 Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) throughout Georgia to encourage young children to read and learn more about healthy living.

At the Southside Medical Center in Atlanta, 18-month-old Dakota Lemons is being read one of the new  ...

At the Southside Medical Center in Atlanta, 18-month-old Dakota Lemons is being read one of the new Sesame Street books by Jocelyn Chisholm Carter of UnitedHealthcare and David Williams, M.D., President and CEO of Southside Medical Center. Dakota is using one of the newly donated Sesame Street reading corners by UnitedHealthcare to 14 Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) throughout the state. The donations are part of UnitedHealthcare's Healthy Habits for Life partnership with Sesame Workshop (Photo: Windgate Downs).

Sesame Street reading corners provide children visiting their doctors’ offices with a colorful place filled with age-appropriate books that encourage reading, teach healthy-eating habits and help make the visits more enjoyable.

UnitedHealthcare employees are delivering and setting up the reading corners in 11 counties, helping assemble tables and chairs, decorate the spaces, provide the children’s books, and supply the doctor’s office with important health and nutrition information.

Health Centers receiving the reading corners include East Albany Pediatric & Adolescent Center and South Albany Medical Center in Albany; Athens Neighborhood Health Center East in Athens; Southside Medical Center and Whitefoord Inc. in Atlanta; Medical Associates Plus - Belle Terrace in Augusta; Southwest Georgia Health Care in Cordele; Georgia Highlands Medical Services in Cumming; two Curtis V. Cooper Primary Care centers in Savannah; First Choice Primary Care in Warner Robins; Community Health Care Systems in Warrenton and Wrightsville; and Medlink - Winder Pediatrics in Winder.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to provide Sesame Street reading corners to so many health centers as an important learning resource for children in Georgia,” said Jocelyn Chisholm Carter of UnitedHealthcare. “Reading to children at a young age is critical to developing literacy and lifelong learning skills.”

According to The Children’s Reading Foundation, parents who read with their children 20 minutes a day from birth through elementary school help them become more proficient readers, and build strong minds and strong relationships.

“These new reading corners are a wonderful addition to our waiting rooms and will provide children and their parents valuable learning opportunities while in our offices receiving care,” said David M. Williams, M.D., president & CEO, Southside Medical Center, which received a Sesame Street reading corner for its location at Main Center in Atlanta. “We are appreciative of UnitedHealthcare and its employees for their generosity and commitment to our patients.”

The donations are part of UnitedHealthcare’s Healthy Habits for Life partnership with Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street, which offers tools and resources to help parents and caregivers gain a greater understanding of the relationship between healthy habits and children’s healthy growth. The program supports UnitedHealthcare’s commitment to helping people live healthier lives through education in fun, innovative ways and supports Sesame’s mission to help all kids grow smarter, stronger and kinder.

Federally Qualified Health Centers provide comprehensive health services, including dental, vision and mental health services, in a single location. For more than 45 years they have been ranked among the highest-quality and cost-effective care providers in the nation – a proven model that has delivered better access and cost-savings, and provided jobs and helped people live healthier lives. UnitedHealthcare helps support Health Centers through a broad network of dedicated health care specialists and hospitals.

According to the National Association of Community Health Centers, in 2012 Georgia FQHCs served more than 320,000 patients, or about 1 in 31 Georgians. Since 2000, Georgia FQHCs have seen a 74 percent increase in total patients and a 92 percent increase in uninsured patients, according to the Georgia Association for Primary Health Care.

About UnitedHealthcare
UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people nationwide live healthier lives by simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. The company offers the full spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers, military service members, retirees and their families, and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with more than 800,000 physicians and care professionals, and 6,000 hospitals and other care facilities nationwide. Globally, UnitedHealthcare serves 45 million people in health benefits and is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified Fortune 50 health and well-being company. For more information, visit UnitedHealthcare at www.uhc.com or follow @myUHC on Twitter.

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Contacts:

UnitedHealthcare
Buddy Castellano, 952-931-4775
Buddy_castellano@uhc.com

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