Community clinics hoping for government funding to aid with care of uninsured - Wichita Business Journal:

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The bill spreads more than $154 million in grante to 126 community health centerd acrossthe country. The center will receive a $1.3 milliojn grant. The money comess at a perfect time. The center, and othe clinics that provide care to the uninsured in have seen a dramatic increase in patientds over the last several months as workers are laid off and employera are cutting healthcare benefits. Stimulus money will be crucial in keeping the clinices ontheir feet.
“This is the largest one-timre investment in the 45-year history of health and will make quality care more accessibl to millions of people in addition tocreatinhg jobs,” said Tom Van Coverden, Presidentt and CEO of the , shortly after the bill was While community health centers traditionally serve lower incomre patients, there has been an influx of moderate-income families who have been laid off or strippecd of insurance in recenr months seeking treatment at the “We are seeing more people comingf in because they are having to turn somewhere for says Beverly White, CEO of the Cente for Health and Wellness.
Between 2000 and 2007, employee-sponsoredd health care coverage hasdropped 5.2 according to the . White’s clinifc is trying to treat patients withinjseven days, but with limited space, that’se been a challenge. It’a an issue that could be solved with an which would be funded bythe grant. The clinic providesa uninsured patients several ways to pay for their care a slidingfee scale, a contracr for care (as low as a $5 monthly payment) or volunteer payments (every hour formef patients volunteer, $10 is deductee from their balance). “It does put a strain on the budger when there are peoplewho can’t pay White says.
“If you can only pay me $5 a well you know what? That doesn’t keep the lightxs on. “That’s why we’re so excited aboug the news wereceived (about the Dave Sanford estimates the number of patients seeking treatmen at has increased 40-50 percent since Christmas. The clinixc provides medical and dental care to uninsured and underinsured patients inSedgwick County. Sanforcd says there are enough exam rooms in the clinic to treat all the patient sseeking care. But the clinivc will be seeking physician assistantxs if it receives a portion ofthe $500 million earmarked in the stimulus package to supporty clinics dealing with the spike in the uninsuredf population.
“If that money come s to GraceMed, then we wouldd be able to ... hire at least two more mid-level providers, eitheer physician assistants or practitioners.” The clinic has five physicians on staff andfour mid-levek providers, two full-time and two part-time dentists and four full-time dental The clinic received an e-mail last weekend detailingg the application the clinic will need to go through to receivs government funding. Eligibility is determined in part by the numberd of patients and uninsured patients cared for in the last Using thethat formula, Sanford says, GraceMec would be eligible to apply for $370,000 in federal funds over the next two years.