Funds in recovery package will provide care to more than 4,700 additional patients in Ingham County

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Carl Levin (D-MI) announced today that Ingham County Health Department will receive $1.3 million through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act New Access Point grant program over the next two years. This funding will help provide comprehensive primary and preventative health care services to families, many of whom do not have health insurance. With New Access Point funding, the Ingham County Health Department will expand primary care services to provide medical, dental and behavioral health services to 4,766 additional patients throughout Ingham County.

“With families losing their jobs and health insurance, community health centers serve as the family doctor to many in our state who are struggling to pay for health care,” said Stabenow. “This recovery package funding will help the Ingham County Health Department provide families throughout Ingham County with the preventative care they need before they are forced to turn to the emergency room all while creating good-paying jobs here in Michigan.”

“In tough economic times, this grant will help the Ingham County Health Department provide critical services in the communities they serve,” said Levin. “I am pleased that the funds in the economic recovery package are being distributed quickly to maintain and improve essential services and create jobs.”

“This is such great news in such tough times,” said Robin Turner, Chair of the Ingham Community Health Center Board. “Our Board has been working to expand services for a long time but we were frustrated. These new resources will finally allow us to increase services and undertake new initiatives, like co-located mental health services, where the Board has strategically determined we need to do a lot more for the community.”

With this recovery grant funding, the Ingham County Health Department will increase the comprehensive and integrated health care services provided through four of its Community Health Centers. This will occur through the hiring of an additional family practice physician, a pediatrician, a nurse practitioner, two dentists, a dental hygienist, two mental health specialists, and a substance abuse specialist. These nine provider staff will be supported by the hiring of twelve additional support staff members for a total of 21 new positions. These centers are geographically located within or in close proximity to the target population and currently serves over 18,000 Ingham County residents.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act New Access Point program is administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). HRSA has provided grant support for Health Centers that provide high-quality preventative and primary health care to medically underserved residents across the country.

Last year, HRSA-supported health centers treated more than 16 million people (forty percent of whom were uninsured). One of every 19 people living in the U.S. now relies on a HRSA-funded clinic for primary care. Community Health Centers are also a key source of job creation as well supporting over 105,000 physicians, nurses, dentists, and other health providers.

HRSA released $155 million in grants to support 126 Community Health Centers across the country.