IEHP brings Winter Wonderland to Trona residents

There’s something magical happening just three hours north of Los Angeles.  

The small, unincorporated town of Trona, California, is gearing up for much more than the holidays this year, making way for a healthier future. 

With community partners and a team of volunteers, Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP) met Trona residents in the heart of their community to provide fresh produce, dental services, vaccines and other health resources at a Winter Wonderland event on Dec. 14. 

This is not the first, second or even third time IEHP has visited Trona – and it definitely won’t be the last, IEHP’s Senior Community Health Director Cesar Armendariz shared. 
 
Even before officially expanding its coverage to rural areas in January 2022, the health plan has worked closely with Trona residents. In fact, IEHP started regular feedback sessions in 2021 to listen and learn more about the area’s overall needs and care gaps. 

Through these engagements, IEHP helped establish bi-weekly fresh produce distributions in the area. Next up: connecting Trona residents to telehealth services and regular wellness programing. 

“As the leading health plan serving the Inland Empire, our goal is to help establish access to much needed resources and empower residents to advocate for their own health and well-being,” said Armendariz. “We do that by making connections between providers and communities and helping to create affinity between the two.” 

One of these new collaborations to support the Trona community is with Omni Family Health, which will provide residents with telehealth services and pharmacy needs.  

“In addition to providing services, vaccines and groceries at our Winter Wonderland event, we really wanted to take the time and teach the community how they can use their IEHP benefits to receive care from partners like Omni Family Health,” said LuAnna Jauregui, IEHP community partnerships manager.  

“Health is personal and being physically present to teach, share and guide the development of sustainable wellness in Trona is incredibly important to IEHP and the future of our care system,” added Jauregui.  

“To me, IEHP means stability,” said Rene, a Trona Resident and Senior Center volunteer. 

“It [IEHP] makes my foundation stronger. It helps me offer things to people that they’ve never heard they could apply for or even come and get. So as far as IEHP goes for me, it brings my stance, my foundation, my feet together in a really strong, thankful way,” added Rene. 

To learn more about IEHP, visit iehp.org.