Georgia to Receive 28 Grants for Community Health Center

Georgia is set to receive $6,964,291 for an anticipated 45,191 new patients at Community Health Centers.

HHS Releases $338 Million to Expand Community Health Centers,
Serve More Patients

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced
the release of $338 million to expand services offered at the nation's
community health centers. The money was made available by the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act and comes as more Americans join the ranks
of the uninsured.

"More Americans are losing their health insurance and turning to health
centers for care," said Health Resources and Services Administrator
(HRSA) Mary Wakefield, Ph.D., R.N. "These grants will aid centers in
their efforts to provide care to an increasing number of patients during
the economic downturn."

The grants -- titled Increased Demand for Services (IDS) grants -- will
be distributed to 1,128 federally qualified health center grantees.
Health centers will use the funds over the next two years to create or
retain approximately 6,400 health center jobs.

Grantees submitted plans explaining how the IDS funds would be used.
Strategies to expand services may include, but are not limited to,
adding new providers, expanding hours of operations or expanding
services. The funds will provide care to an additional 2.1 million
patients over the next two years, including approximately 1 million
uninsured people.

Health centers deliver preventive and primary care services to patients
regardless of their ability to pay; charges for services are set
according to income. Health centers served more than 16 million
patients in 2007, about 40 percent of whom had no health insurance.

The IDS awards are the second set of health center grants provided
through the Recovery Act. On March 2, President Obama announced grants
worth $155 million to establish 126 new health centers. Those grants
will provide access to health center care for 750,000 people in 39
states and two territories.

-----
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page