Grant will add pediatrician, support staff to local center
The San Benito Health Foundation received a $232,000 grant from
the economic stimulus package recently signed by President Barack
Obama. The money will be used to add a pediatrician and several
support staff to help increase access to health care for local
youth.
Grant will add pediatrician, support staff to local center
The San Benito Health Foundation received a $232,000 grant from the economic stimulus package recently signed by President Barack Obama. The money will be used to add a pediatrician and several support staff to help increase access to health care for local youth.
“No community member should go without health care,” said Rosa Vivian Fernandez, president and chief executive officer of the health foundation. “In a county with such limited funding, the federal funding is even more important as we strive to surpass the current economic crisis and work on long-term financial stability for our community.”
The health foundation, located on Felice Drive just off of Fourth Street on the west end of Hollister, was one of four facilities on the Central Coast to receive approximately $1.2 million from the grant.
Health centers around the country are expected to use the funds to create or retain approximately 6,400 jobs. The money can also be used to add new providers, expand hours of operation or expand services.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said the local share of $338 million will be used to expand services at community health centers across the country.
Increased patient load
The health foundation served nearly 1,000 new and uninsured patients in the last quarter of 2008, which prompted the addition of a part-time pediatrician. That doctor’s schedule quickly filled to more than 35 patients per day, according to a health foundation report, necessitating the addition of another full-time children’s doctor.
“The pediatric and overall patient needs continue to grow exponentially each month as the economy continues to decline in the area,” the foundation reported in a recent grant application.
Fernandez said that while the one-time federal funding for the full-time pediatrician, two medical assistants, a medical records clerk and a part-time receptionist covers just two years, she expects that the health foundation can absorb the cost of those additional employees through a greater patient load.
“Two years is a long time in health care,” she said. “When we add a provider position, we might be able to keep that position because we build a financial base through patient billing. We can also access state and federal funding.”
Access to federal funding
The health foundation, established 31 years ago to serve low-income residents, became a federally-funded clinic in 2007, which expanded its potential funding base and access to federal dollars.
“We see all payer codes, not just people who are uninsured,” Fernandez said. “That’s what helps us subsidize care for people who are not insured. We serve people with Medicare, MediCal and the uninsured. We offer a significant sliding fee scale.”
Because of the economic downturn, a number of people have been putting off health care, thinking that they couldn’t receive medical care without having a job or insurance, Fernandez said.
“We are seeing people that are coming in after several weeks of being in pain or not taking medication,” she said. “Last week a woman walked in with her face deformed because of a lack of dental care. The San Benito Health Foundation’s mission is to provide services regardless of ability to pay to all San Benito county community members. We may be able to ease [a person’s] financial costs of health care and get them prepared to re-enter the workforce.”
The health foundation expects that the additional staffing will enhance access to health care for children and adolescents as well as decrease the days of school that they miss. Providing immunizations to more young people should also mean that parents will have to miss fewer days of work to care for sick children.
Timely support for health centers
Farr said the stimulus package’s funding of community health centers comes at a crucial time.
“The economic recovery bill is not only about creating jobs, it’s also about taking care of the many Americans who have been left behind over the past eight years,” said Congressman Sam Farr (D-Carmel), in a press release. “This injection of funds will help our community health centers increase their services to a wider range of people on the Central Coast.”
Fernandez praised Farr for his support of the health foundation’s request for funding.
“Congressman Farr has always been interested in bringing federal dollars to San Benito County,” she said. “He has been an advocate for our organization.”
Called Increased Demand for Services grants, the money is being distributed to more than 1,100 health centers nationwide, including the Clinica De Salud Del Valley De Salinas, the Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency Homeless Persons’ Health Project and Salud Para La Gente in Watsonville.
Community-based health centers typically serve populations with limited access to health care, including low-income families, the uninsured, people with limited English language proficiency, farmworkers and the homeless.
Expansion plans
The 17,000-square-foot health foundation has plans to expand a number of its services, including bringing in additional family medical providers and an obstetrician/gynecologist.
“We’ll be remodeling our dental practice to expand its capacity from four to eight chairs and we’ll have additional capacity in our Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program,” Fernandez said. “We have 18 exam rooms and will be adding another one and an additional treatment room. We are hoping to complete all renovation by August of this year.”
Being part of a network of community health centers on the Central Coast allows the health foundation to maximize the resources available from the federal government,” Fernandez noted.
“We’ll have access to capital funds to renovate our facilities to modernize them and make them more efficient,” she said. “We’ll also have additional dollars for our workforce and we’re aiming for improved use of technology,” such as storing health records electronically to free up space for medical care.
“We are a pivotal point in healthcare reform,” Fernandez said of the health foundation and other similar providers. “We spend so much money on healthcare in this country and get so little. Something has to change. Community health centers have proven to be a cost-effective health care option.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION
The San Benito Health Foundation is located at 351 Felice Drive. Walk-ins are welcome, but appointments are recommended. Call 637-5306 for details.
