Thursday, April 3, 2025
4/3/2025
Community Project Funding/Congressionally Directed Spending - Non-Construction - Community Project Funding - Congressionally Directed Spending (CPF/CDS) HRSA-23-118, AL # 93.493 Bethel Family Clinic 631 Main Street / PO Box 1908, Bethel, Alaska 99559 M. Enayet U. Chowdhury, Executive Director Email: enam@bethelfamilyclinic.org Phone: 907-543-3773 Fax: 907-543-3545 Website: www.bethelfamilyclinic.org Alaska Congressional District Rural Village Well Child Program $600,000 The Bethel Family Clinic (BFC), founded in 1981, is a small, non-profit Community Health Center funded in 2002 through a CHC§330 grant, located in Bethel, Alaska which is the largest community in the Kuskokwim River in Southwest Alaska. It is the homeland of the Yup’ik that they called Mamterilleq, which means “Smokehouse People.” It is the only provider of primary care in the region to residents who are not Indian Health Service beneficiaries. Bethel is designated as a health professional shortage and medically underserved areas. Bethel/Kusilvak census units cover 65,217 square miles. The service area consists of the hub city of Bethel and 56 surrounding remote villages. This is a sparsely populated area, with access limited to air and boat travel that is often hampered by seasonally severe weather. The area population per the 2020 US Census is 27,034, of which 91% are Alaska Native, 37% under the age of 18 and 7% over 65 years of age. The needs of the population are for continuum of health care in rural villages. Behavioral Health needs are at a premium with suicide rates the highest in the nation in our service area. BFC provides routine preventative and acute/urgent care and prenatal services. Bethel Family Clinic is centrally located in the heart of Bethel. BFC is accessible via regular community bus service. BFC also provides services at the local schools, cultural centers, and in the villages at the schools and head start facilities which makes access to our services convenient for our patients. Per our UDS data for 2022 we saw 2065 unduplicated patients with 1155 (56%) of them being in the 0–17-year-old age range. Encounters total was 3699. BFC has projected 6,600 encounters for 2,960 unduplicated patients to be served for the year ending 12/31/2024. Work with Head Start facilities began in 2008 and continues with biannual visits providing well-child exams and referrals, as necessary. BFC contracts with four area school districts for well child and sports physicals. The need for this service will be more important than ever as most of these remote villages were completely shut off from health care services during the pandemic. Bethel Family Clinic has made a concerted effort to collaborate with the local tribal health corporation which runs a critical access hospital in Bethel and sub-regional and village clinics in the service area. BFC works closely with the public health nurse, State Health Department, and others to provide immunizations, TB tests, Health Fairs, Vocational Days, and Kindergarten Round-up. Bethel Family Clinic received its 2014 Level III certification as a Patient-Centered Medical Home in 2016. Due to our remote location, it is challenging to recruit and retain qualified staff at all levels. BFC currently operates with two full-time Nurse Practitioner one of which fills both a patient care and medical director role. Our behavioral health services are suspended as we recruit a new team. Dental has been operating with a locums’ provider who is available 2 weeks per month. We are recruiting a full-time dental provider but will continue to operate with the locums until this position has been filled. Our project goal is to travel to these outlying villages via air, boat, or ATV to provide well child services. We anticipate that many of these children will need referrals for follow-up care as most do not seek medical care on a routine basis.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).