Wednesday, February 5, 2025
2/5/2025
PROJECT ABSTRACT The needs to be addressed: Project Description: Rural Health, Inc. (RHI), a federally qualified health center serving medically underserved Union, Johnson, and Massac counties in southernmost Illinois, proposes expanded hours for general primary medical care under the Expanded Hours funding initiative. Overall, this project aims to expand and enhance access to primary care at two of RHI’s clinical sites. One of the sites is the main site in Anna, IL (Union County), and the other site is in Goreville, IL (Johnson County). The proposed project addresses critical needs within the communities of individuals being able to get primary medical care when they need it. Currently, there are scheduling barriers such as nontraditional work schedules, lack of sick leave, childcare issues, and transportation issues which prevent many patients from getting the medical care they need. According to Roadmaps and Rankings 2024, Illinois averages a percentage of 1260:1 (1 physician per 1260 people), but this figure is slightly higher in Union County and substantially higher in Johnson County. Union County has a ratio of 1300:1 and Johnson County faces a crucial shortage of 13460:1. Expanded hours at RHI would assist the local hospitals since patients would be able to seek care from their primary care physician and avoid the emergency room for routine problems. RHI has experience in providing expanded services to the residents of the surrounding communities. RHI began its operations in 1978 as a single clinic and has progressed over the years to include four additional primary care clinics. In 2008, RHI began offering Behavioral Health Services, and in 2017, its Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) program was instituted. By providing additional scheduling hours, patients would benefit not only from general primary care, but also from the many other services provided by RHI, e.g., dental, behavioral health, nutritional services, and OB-GYN services. The Proposed Services: Guided by the Expanded Hours funding initiative, RHI proposes to increase hours of operation at two of its service delivery sites in its approved scope of project. New Saturday primary care service hours would be offered at RHI’s Goreville, IL (Johnson county) facility from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Currently the Goreville clinic’s total hours of operation are 47.00 hours, which includes one late night clinic. The expanded hours would increase total hours of operation to 53. The other delivery site (the main site) in Anna, IL (Union County), would offer expanded hours each day starting at 7:00 a.m. instead of the present 8:00 a.m. The Anna clinic’s total hours of operation at present are 57.00 hours. The Anna site currently offers two late night clinic hours and Saturday hours. The expanded hours would start at 7:00 a.m. Monday-Friday, and Sunday hours (8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.) would be offered. The expanded hours would increase total hours of operation to 68 in Anna. In order to cover the expanded hours, RHI will hire two additional mid-level providers, two nurses, one patient service representative, and one revenue cycle staff member. The expanded hours would be a tremendous help, especially to the working population, needing to be at their place of employment at 8:00 a.m., and patients needing medical help on the weekend. The early morning scheduling would also free up several more appointment slots that could be offered to others during the regular day-time hours. The Population Group(s) to be served. This proposal targets a diverse range of vulnerable populations, including the working population, families with young children, students, the elderly, Hispanic/Latino migrant workers, and new patients wanting to get established with a local provider. Through strategic planning of expanded services, RHI aims to improve access to general primary medical care thereby enhancing healthy outcomes for the patien ts.
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).