Institute staff help Hudson Valley arts community access health care at Kingston’s O+ Festival
October 30, 2023
On the weekend of October 6-8, Institute for Family Health staff joined the annual O+ Festival in Kingston, NY, where artists, musicians and other creatives accessed health and wellness services. Now in its 14th year, the O+ Festival aims to support the health of underinsured artists and musicians by allowing them to exchange their craft for health screenings and services. In addition to providing direct services, the Institute was one of the fiscal sponsors for this year’s festival, along with several other organizations.
Institute providers and residents from our Mid-Hudson Family Residency Program helped provide medical consultations and care at the Artists’ Clinic, where artists and performers can receive care in a private yet centralized location. In addition to medical care, services on offer at the clinic included dental care, dermatology, acupuncture, massage therapy, and mental health counseling. This year, the Artists’ Clinic served 168 patients in total.
In addition, Dr. Marta Sanchez, Assistant Medical Director at the Kingston Family Health Center, led a Walk & Talk event, where she invited community members to join her on a walk and presented on the topic of “Food as Medicine,” along with family medicine residents Dr. Navneet Grewal and Dr. Fabiola Corbette. The Walk & Talk was a collaboration between the Institute and LiveWell Kingston. At the end of the walk, participants received free bags of fresh produce provided by the Kingston YMCA Farm Project.
Artists, musicians and all community members can access affordable health care, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay, throughout the year at any of the Institute’s community health centers in the Mid-Hudson Valley.
