Fiscal Year 2025 Expanded Hours. - Heartland Community Health Clinic, Inc., dba Heartland Health Services, Inc. (HHS) will utilize $1,000,000 in funding to expand hours to include evening and weekends at four of its service sites in Central Illinois. The organization will increase access to timely, culturally competent care for underserved individuals at its East Bluff, Carver, Garden, HSC and Tazwood sites. This proposal would be an increase of 72.5 hours per week across HHS, representing an 25% increase in operating hours and an increase to more than half of the organization’s health centers. The overall aim of this grant is to expand access and alleviate barriers to timely, culturally competent, and high-quality primary care by expanding the number of hours during which HHS provides primary care services to patients. This work will ultimately improve health outcomes for the target population in the Illinois Tri-County area, while helping to reduce inequities and disparities faced by underserved individuals in the region. The five sites were selected based on patient need in the surrounding neighborhoods, especially for primary care appointment availability at the Tazwood location. Additionally, the East Bluff and Garden sites already operate successful walk-in clinics. The patients served at these sites face barriers which place them at a higher risk of health challenges. Seventy-one percent (71%) are on Medicaid or self-pay, 50% identified as a Person of Color, and 5% speak a primary language other than English. Expanding hours at the East Bluff, Carver, Garden, HSC, and Tazwood sites would ensure primary care access for patients who may not otherwise receive care. HHS will meet these needs by expanding access to care, adding three and a half additional hours of evening care, three times per week (Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 4:30 PM to 8 PM) and four hours of weekend care on Saturdays from 8 AM to 12 PM. This project will build upon HHS’s successful After Hours program, which served 2,630 unique patients through 3,295 encounters from June 1, 2023, to May 31, 2024. As such, HHS will utilize Expanded Hours funds to hire four to five nurse practitioners (4.0-5.0 FTEs) to work flexible schedules to include the after-hours shifts. To incentivize potential hires in the face of clinical workforce shortages, HHS will offer a $10,000 sign-on bonus to new hires, as well as a $10 shift differential during the expanded hours. The after-hours clinics will also be staffed with existing registered nurses, certified medical assistants, and registration staff. The organization will pay overtime for these hours, if needed, and will offer a $10 shift differential during after hours. Additional expenses include hiring security personnel or paying for a security contract with a local company, advertising expenses, and the costs for department build in the organization’s Epic electronic health record. As a federally qualified health center (H80CS02457), HHS has extensive experience meeting the needs of underserved patients. Since 1991, HHS has fulfilled its mission “to provide high quality health care services accessible to all” by providing comprehensive care through a patient-centered, integrated model. The organization serves patients in 22 ZCTAs in Peoria, Tazewell, and Woodford Counties in Illinois, through 7 service sites.
