PROJECT ABSTRACT Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS): Construction Projects, HRSA-22-134 Applicant: Refuah Health Center, Inc; H80CS00281 Address: 728 N. Main Street; Spring Valley, New York 10977 Project Director: Chanie Sternberg, Executive Director Project Director Phone: 845-354-9300 x. 1205 (voice); 845-354-9448 (fax) Email: CSternberg@RefuahHealth.org Website: www.RefuahHealth.org Funding Requested: $2,000,000, AL/CFDS #: 93.439 Description: RefuahHealth requests $2,000,000 in Community Directed Spending to construct the Center of Excellence for Women's Health. The state-of-the-art facility will be dedicated to the provision of accessible, high-quality, affordable healthcare for women. The Center, to be located at RefuahHealth, a federally qualified health center (FQHC) that provides comprehensive healthcare services to low-income populations throughout Rockland County and the lower Hudson Valley in New York, will focus on fertility services, offering women treatment and counseling in a local, caring, and comprehensive environment. Consistent with its mission as an FQHC, services at the Center will be made available to all women, regardless of ability to pay. Funding will construct an approx. 10,000 square foot facility consisting of exam/consult rooms, mammography, outpatient surgical space, and an expanded midwifery-led birthing center. Keeping in mind the deep emotional issues that can result from infertility and pregnancy loss, the Center will be designed with holistic design principles that will provide a soothing and patient-focused experience. Need: According to American Community Survey data, approximately 15% of Rockland County women will face infertility. Currently, there are virtually no local options for fertility services in Rockland County. Even though New York is one of the most expansive states for fertility health insurance coverage - and the only state which offers coverage through Medicaid - the lack of a
local option makes it difficult to access treatment. Fertility treatment is often a time-consuming process, with carefully timed treatments being required daily for sustained periods of times. The cost of transportation and the need to take time off from work and arrange family care can make travel to out-of-county providers prohibitively expensive and practically impossible. This is all in addition to the emotional burden fertility places on women and their families. Services: The Center will provide accessible fertility care, house an expanded midwifery led birthing center, and offer comprehensive women's health services, mental health services, mammography, and GYN out-patient surgery. Bringing all of these services together under one roof, in a patient-centered location, will enhance Refuah's existing capabilities as an FQHC and allow the Center to reach the underserved women of Rockland County. Population group(s) to be served: RefuahHealth is a federally-qualified health center (FQHC) serving low income families, living at or below 200% of FPG. As an FQHC, it is accessible to patients regardless of ability to pay. It is one of the largest providers of outpatient women's health services in Rockland County. Over 80% of its patients are covered by Medicaid. Refuah offers uninsured patients care on a sliding-fee scale, with patients below 100% of the federal poverty level paying only a nominal fee. No patient is ever turned away because they cannot afford care. In particular, women of color and women of lower socio-economic status are disparately impacted by the lack of local fertility and comprehensive women’s health options. Historically marginalized populations, including BIPOC and LGBTQ communities, in particular, have faced heightened barriers to accessing fertility treatment. These women, who already face other barriers to accessing healthcare, would especially benefit from a local, affordable option for fertility treatment and women's health services.