Center for Health Eductation Medicine and Dentistry

The lrrc (Center for Health, education, Medicine and Dentistry (chemed)) serviced over 70,000 unique patients in over 256,000 face to face encounters in 2023. The encounters occurred in the internal Medicine, pediatric behavioral Health, dental speciality, womens Health, immediate care, radiology, podiatry department, as well as chemed's second site in the west of Lakewood and its third site located in the south of Lakewood. Chemed's in house 340b pharmacy continued its growth filling over 67,000 prescriptions in 2023. Chemed sees all patients regardless of ability to pay, including those on government assistance plans and uninsured who pay as per an income based sliding fee scale using federal guidelines.in addition, the lrrc social service division has assisted 11,786 unique households in 35,318 encounters, reaching over 40,000 individuals. The lrrc helps with affordable housing, first-time home buying, subsidized Health insurance, nutritional assistance, disability and paid work leaves, utility assistance, and senior services. Throughout 2023, the lrrc provided benefit and application assistance in one-on-one counseling sessions and engaged in community outreach and education activities regarding many social service topics. The lrrc continued collaborating with government, nonprofit and private sector agencies to assist ocean county residents in need.