Thursday, December 26, 2024
12/26/2024
Cumberland Family Medical Center, Inc. (CFMC) is a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) serving 32 rural counties in south-central and north-central Kentucky including Barren County in the western most portion of our HRSA designated service area. As part of the CFMC service area, this county has access to high-quality community health center services provided in an affordable, accessible manner regardless of the patient’s income or ability to pay. Our mission as a FQHC, ensures that we provide services in the most accessible manner possible – including much needed access to clinic hours when care is most needed. For this reason, we are applying for the FY 2025 Expanded Hours Grant (EH). If funded CFMC, will expand our current hours of operation at our established Glasgow Pediatric Healthcare Healthy Kids Clinic in Barren County. As the only FQHC or FQHC Look-alike in this large, rural county, our pediatric providers serve this population of over 41,000, with affordable, accessible, high-quality care regardless of income, insurance status, or ability to pay. We are the only health care entity in the county to offer a Sliding Fee Discount Scale and 340B Discount Pharmacy Services. The addition of pediatric providers at our designated location would be well positioned to address barriers to care and ensure that access to a continuum of behavioral health, primary care, and child wellness extends to all children in Barren County. According to the Health Resource Service Administration (HRSA) Barren County is a Geographic High Needs Area and is a Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) for primary care, dental health and mental health. To expand our pediatric services to our most vulnerable population of patients, through this funding opportunity, we will use the grant award to provide direct hire licensed pediatric and mental health care providers along with case management and support staff to further integrate primary care, behavioral health, and child wellness services. By doing so, we will be building upon existing evidence-based models currently in use at our CFMC pediatric locations and school-based health center sites to ensure our young patients have the most accessible means of receiving health services regardless of when the need arises. By expanding clinic hours each day by one hour and creating access to Saturday hours, this funding will allow us to provide high quality care to children at this location an additional 15 hours per week beyond the site’s current hours of operation. The creation of additional avenues to access care ensures that CFMC’s patients are seen promptly when needed by their established pediatric provider thus reducing costly emergency room visits, missed work hours by parents, and missed academic time from school for doctor appointments. According to recent data, 46% of households nationwide report negative health consequences as a result of not being able to get an appointment during the hours needed. As a result, delayed care is often the result of barriers such as lack of health insurance, lack of access to transportation, lack of availability of appointments and inability to take time off work to attend appointment. In a county where 26.3% of all children live in poverty and 56% reside in low-income homes (KY Youth Advocates 2023), access to affordable, accessible health care for the children of Barren and surrounding counties is key to combating Kentucky’s poor health rankings and the only means by which a healthier population can be created. If funded, this project would allow CFMC to expand access to care through the addition of extended hours to better create accessibility to affordable, high quality health care for our children.
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).