Schuylkill County may have a federally qualified community health center to serve people with low incomes and no insurance within the next two years.
The Board of Commonwealth Community Health and Education Inc. hosted a presentation Tuesday night at the Dr. Norman Wall Auditorium at Schuylkill Medical Center-East Norwegian Street, featuring Cheri Rinehart, president and chief executive officer of the Pennsylvania Association of Community Health Centers.
There, Dr. Robert Cole, volunteer chief executive officer for the nonprofit trying to establish the center, said a property owner in Shenandoah has considered donating a building for the effort. A retiring physician in the county is also looking to donate a practice, he said.
Cole said the organization is aiming to apply as a "FQHC look-alike" over the summer and then submit an application as a FQHC the following year.
A look-alike organizations meet all of the eligibility requirements of a FQHC and receive most of the same benefits, but do not receive Section 330 funding. However, look-alikes are eligible for "new start" grants.
Once FQHC status is granted, the organization has 120 days to have it up and running. With this course of action, it will be an easier process, Cole said.
"To be a look-alike is very important in having a successful application," Cole said.
FQHCs provide comprehensive primary care services including mental health and dental services for people without insurance or who may unable to afford regular care. The centers qualify for enhanced reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid as well as other benefits and federal grants.
FQHCs must provide services to an underserved area or population, offer a sliding fee scale and have a governing board with patients making up 51 percent of the membership.
Schuylkill County VISION first spearheaded the effort in March 2011 with a group of representatives from the county hospitals, area educational institutions, social service organizations, government agencies and community members collectively known then as the Schuylkill County Work Group for Community Health.
"A lot of people wanted to move things forward so we established a formal board this year," Kay Jones, VISION executive director, said Tuesday.
Now known as the Board of Commonwealth Community Health and Education Inc., it consists of 10 members.
Jones said there are about 13,835 uninsured residents in Schuylkill County.
"We are talking an enormous population in this county," Jones said.
There are about 11,000 FQHCs in Pennsylvania, Rinehart said.
Those centers care for nearly 700,000 Pennsylvanians and are located in 48 of the 67 counties in the Commonwealth. However, almost a 250,000 uninsured Pennsylvanians live in counties without health centers.
"I think it is fabulous you have so many people here in the county that care about the people who don't have access to health care," Rinehart said.
Rinehart said studies have shown that the health centers save costs to the health care system by reducing the number of emergency room visits, hospitalizations and other avoidable expensive care. Health centers currently save about $1,200 per person through the care.
According to a recent study by the George Washington University, an expansion in health centers can save up to $122 billion in health care costs between 2010 and 2015 and save $55 billion for Medicaid over that same period.
"Health centers have great outcomes," Rinehart said. "There are a lot of reasons people choose health centers, but most common reason is the affordability."
Rinehart also said that it is the last "best time" for Schuylkill County to submit an application for a FQHC.
The Rural Health Corporation of Northeastern Pennsylvania provides similar services to FQHCs. Dr. James Greenfield, who has a practice in Frackville, helped establish three RHCs in Schuylkill County affiliated with St. Luke's Miners Memorial Hospital, Coaldale. He said Tuesday that it is important that the board consider not to overlap its services with the RHCs when submitting an application and offered his assistance in starting the program.
"I did all that because it is needed in this area," he said. "What you are doing is needed. This needs to be happening."
