South Region of San Diego County- A Border Area
South County is a dynamic business region, comprised of 5 cities, Coronado, City of National City, City of San Diego, Chula Vista and Imperial Beach, unincorporated parts of the County and San Diego Bay, overseen by the Unified Port of San Diego. The area's diverse reflect what California will become by 2020. Few areas can lay claim to being home of an Olympic training center, a huge outdoor ampitheater, extraordinary golf courses and the largest sandcastle-building contest in the world. South County offers these unique facets of business and quality of life, and more . . .
Specifics about National City -
National City was founded in 1868 and incorporated in 1887. National City is the center of an international business region of five million people that stretches along the Pacific coastline and Orange County and across the international border of Mexico. The National City Mile of Cars, established in 1960, is recognized as one of the first "auto malls" in the world. National City's port area extends three miles along the San Diego bay and is part of the largest U.S. Navy installation on the west coast.
Characteristics of Persons
Population: 54,260
Median Age: 28.7
Households: 11,802
Projected Population-2001: 58,000
Median Annual Household Income: $26,945
Average Family Size: 3.38
Unique Population with Unique Needs
In the South region the most pressing health needs include lowering the teen birth rate, which is one of the highest of all county regions and lowering the asthma hospitalization rate, which is the second highest of all county regions. The early prenatal care use rate in the South Region was lower than the San Diego County rate (80.1% or 801 per 1000) and lower than the State (82.2% or 822 per 1000). The south region rate of early prenatal care use also falls short of the Healthy People 2010 target of 90% or 900 per 1000.
The South Region also has the second highest teen birth rate of all county regions, at 35.4 births per 1000 teens, higher than the rates for San Diego County (28.0) and for the state (30.4). (County Regional Profile Data 2004, DHHS).
These health needs can have significant school readiness implications. Infants born to teen mother are more likely to have a low birth weight; the low birth weigh rate among babies born to teen is 21% higher than that for babies of women ages 20-24. Children who are born at a low birth weight are more likely to have problems such as hyperactivity or dyslexia, which can affect performance in school. In addition, children of teen parents are 50% more likely to repeat a grade, typically perform worse on standardized tests, and are less likely to graduate from high school.
Our clinic in National City, in the southern region of the
County, was started in 2004 as a pilot project with Sharp
Mary Birch Hospital to provide Certified Midwives’ services.
The clinic services expanded to include pediatric,
family practice and OB-GYN services as well as mental health
services. In
2009, we increased clinic hours on Saturdays through the
Increased Demand for Services funding through (ARRA).
For more information regarding services offered by our La Maestra National City Clinic site, please click HERE.