SCHC to gain some $700K in federal stimulus bux
From our weekly issue dated July 08, 2009
Siskiyou Community Health Center (SCHC), which has a clinic in Cave Junction, will receive an infusion of federal dollars as part of the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act.
The U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services is awarding more than $14.6 million in grants to health centers throughout Oregon as part of its Capital Improvement Program, according to a Tuesday, June 30 announcement from Sen. Jeff Merkley (R-Ore.) and Sen. Ron Wyden (R-Ore.).
Approximately $700,835 will be allocated to SCHC, which has its administrative offices in Grants Pass.
La Clinica Del Valle Family Health in Medford will receive $676,510; and the Medford-based Community Health Center will receive $600,945.
The funding will go toward supporting construction, repair and renovation of the health centers’ facilities. Also, purchasing new equipment and health information technology systems, and adopting expanded use of electronic health records, the announcement states.
A Wednesday, July 1 SCHC announcement relates that ultrasound equipment will be purchased to better serve prenatal patients. Medical lab equipment will be expanded to provide more on-site services, and a Class “A” mobile unit will be used for “dual-use dental operatories.” The unit will provide services to Williams, Merlin, Hugo and up to Wolf Creek, said Merkley and Wyden.
Kurt Higuera, SCHC CEO, praised the federal funding allocation.
“The Capital Improvement Program grant is a welcome opportunity for Federally Qualified Health Centers to make needed additions and improvements to enhance services,” Higuera said. “Siskiyou Community Health Center will be utilizing the funding to provide extended services throughout Josephine County as well as to improve and enhance services at our existing clinics.”
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Wyden also praised the allocation.
“More than 17 million Americans from small towns to urban centers rely on community health centers for basic health care,” Wyden said.
“As we work to reform our current health care,” he said, “we need to make sure that we take care of those elements of the current system that offer the services that people need most. Keeping those centers healthy is crucial to keeping Americans healthy.”
Merkley stated that the funding “will be creating jobs in Oregon while at the same time improving the facilities, information technology and electronic records that allow our health-care providers to focus on delivering quality care to patients.”
SCHC has been serving Josephine County since 1973. It is the county’s only not-for-profit federal safety net medical and dental clinic.
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