HRSA Administrator Awards $2.5 Million To Expand Services At Three Louisiana Health Centers, USA
"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.
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 http://www.hrsa.gov.
HRSA administrator premii $ 2,5 milioane pentru a extinde serviciile de la centrele de sãnãtate de trei Louisiana, SUA - HRSA Administrator Awards $2.5 Million To Expand Services At Three Louisiana Health Centers, USA - articole medicale engleza - startsanatate