Creating a federally funded health center

MONTROSE �” A group of community members have come together to bridge gaps in health care for uninsured and underserved area residents.

Representatives from the Montrose Health Partnership came before the Montrose Memorial Hospital board Monday evening to discuss bringing a Federally Funded Community Health Center (FQHC) to the eastern part of Montrose County.

The partnership consists of service agencies, schools, local government and law enforcement, and the general public.

The group has already approached the Uncompahgre Medical Center in Norwood, a FQHC, about the possibility of it expanding to the Montrose area, creating a center here.

On Aug. 19, the UMC board of directors voted unanimously in support of the expansion. Now, the partnership is gathering input from supporters and concerned parties.

The visit with the MMH board was part of that process.

The group continues with that task on Sept. 18 when Pat Riddell of the Western Colorado Individual Practice Association hosts a meeting between MHP and local physicians to discuss the project. The hospital board showed interest in meeting with the group again.

The idea is to open a clinic in Montrose that would help area residents get needed health care. Those residents would primarily be low income, uninsured, underinsured, or the Medicare and Medicaid populations, according to Elizabeth Roscoe, a member of MHP. She said it would not duplicate services or resources within the community. She asked for input from the hospital on what they needed and specific information they would like to be given.

“We are pulling together these key groups to see what a community health center in Montrose will look like,” said Michelle Haynes, executive director of UMC. She said the group wants to build relationships with existing services in the community so that they can complement and supplement them, not compete.

“We can’t even attempt or do we want to replace existing services,” she said. “We do think we can go a long way to meet the existing need that is there for those who are not receiving service.”

Haynes expects the center to get more than $1 million in federal, state and private foundation funding. The funding provides the center cost-based reimbursement for Medicare and Medicaid patients, putting it in a better position than private practice physicians to serve the uninsured, she said.

It also benefits the hospital, along with reducing the burden on the hospital’s emergency services, Haynes said. It’s documented that many people without insurance access health care through the ER, an expensive method.

The group states, in a letter to the MMH board, that the center could also provide new jobs and bring significant outside revenue to the county.

By expanding the UMC, the Montrose center is more likely to receive funding because it’s connected with a center that is already established and knows how to handle the funds properly, Haynes said.

The next step is a needs assessment study specific to Montrose, which is required for the FQHC application. Haynes said the study can take up to six weeks and contains community data, along with assessing needs through community input.

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Statistics

�”30 percent of the population does not have health insurance and more than 20 percent did not access health care due to cost in 2004 through 2005, according to a Central Public Health Partnership 2007 needs assessment study of Montrose and five surrounding counties.

�”These numbers doubled from 1999 to 2005.

�”With a population of about 37,000 in 2005, 19.5 percent of children under the age of 18 lived in poverty in Montrose County, while the state of Colorado was at 14 percent, according to Montrose County data.

Contact Kati O’Hare via e-mail at katio@montrosepress.com