FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, April 23, 2007 |
CONTACT:
HRSA PRESS OFFICE
301-443-3376 |
HRSA Administrator Awards $2.5 Million
to Expand Services at Three Louisiana Health Centers
Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Administrator Elizabeth
M. Duke today announced grants worth almost $2.5 million to increase
access to health care services in New Orleans and Franklin, La., as
part of President Bush’s multi-year strategy to expand community
health centers nationwide.
“Today’s funds will help three local health centers expand
services to 13,600 more patients than they currently treat,” Dr.
Duke said. “Across the nation, health centers provide vital medical
services to millions of Americans who cannot otherwise obtain needed
care, and the grants we’re making today will strengthen Louisiana’s
health care safety net.”
Dr. Duke traveled to New Orleans to present Expanded Medical Capacity
(EMC) and New Access Point (NAP) grants to the following health centers:
- EXCELth, Inc. will receive an EMC annual award of $600,000 and a
NAP annual award of $650,000. The EMC funds will increase the capacity
of the Algiers community clinic to provide primary health care and
prevention services to communities that continue to rebuild after
the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. These funds will help the center
treat 3,000 more patients annually. The NAP funds will be used to
provide health services to the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans,
an area severely impacted by Hurricane Katrina that currently has
no health center.
- Jefferson Community Health Center Inc. will receive a NAP award
of $650,000 for the Marrero Clinic in Jefferson Parish. Services to
be provided at this site include primary care, behavioral health,
women’s health, immunizations, preventive health care resources,
well-child services, geriatric and adult chronic disease management
and prevention, and laboratory and pharmacy services. More than 7,900
new patients will be served at the Marrero Clinic location.
- Teche Action Clinic in Franklin will receive an annual EMC award
of $580,645 to expand services to the underserved by hiring additional
physicians and expanding its clinical staff. These funds will help
the center treat 2,700 more patients annually.
Expanding health center services is a key element of the Bush administration’s
plan to increase access to care for the nation’s medically underserved
individuals. EMC grants expand primary health care services by making
it possible for health centers to serve more people.
HRSA manages the Health Center Program, which funds a national network
of more than 3,800 clinics comprised of community health centers, migrant
health centers, health care for the homeless centers, and public housing
primary care centers. These health centers deliver preventive and primary
care services to patients regardless of their ability to pay; charges
for health care services are set according to income. Almost 40 percent
of the patients treated at health centers have no insurance coverage
and others have inadequate coverage.
Since President Bush announced his Health Center Growth Initiative
in 2001, HRSA has awarded 900 grants to create new health center sites
or expand operations at existing centers, and the number of patients
treated annually has risen from 10.3 million in 2001 to 14.1 million
in 2005.
Pictured from left: Mike
Andry, CEO of EXCELth, Inc.; Dr. Fred Cerise, Medical Director and
State Health Officer, Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals;
HRSA Administrator
Elizabeth M. Duke; Dr. Gary Wiltz, CEO of Teche Action Clinic; Carol
Smith, CEO of Jefferson
Community Health Centers, Inc.; and Jefferson Parish Councilman Byron
Lee.
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The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), part of the
U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the primary Federal
agency for improving access to health care services for people who are
uninsured, isolated, or medically vulnerable. For more information
about HRSA and its programs, visit www.hrsa.gov.
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