Clinic Vies for New Status Federal Qualification Would Ease High Malpractice Coverage Cost

Patricia Lynch does not have health insurance, but she still gets care for her diabetes at the Neighborhood Health Services Center clinic.

Ms. Lynch, 46, who lives in south Augusta, where the clinic is located, said it is an improvement over the doctor’s office she used to visit in Evans.

“It’s more convenient and costs less,” she said.

There may soon be more help on the way for patients like Ms. Lynch.

The clinic should find out within a few weeks whether it will be granted status as a Federally Qualified Health Center. That would allow it to get about 40 percent more in reimbursements from Medicare and Medicaid, among other things, said Executive Director Melinda Rider.

It would also allow the center to be covered by a federal rule that would keep it from getting sued, allowing it to drop malpractice coverage at $40,000 a year, Ms. Rider said.

The law authorizing the centers actually needs to be renewed, and officials hope that will happen before the end of the year, said Lisa Cox, the assistant director for federal affairs with the National Association of Community Health Centers. The group is hoping to have funding at just over $2 billion, which should increase the chances of getting some of that funding to Augusta, she said.

“That will do nothing but help this center,” Ms. Cox said.

U.S. Rep. John Barrow, D-Ga., who visited the clinic Tuesday, said he will “definitely support it.”

The federal designation will also aid the newly expanded dental clinic at the center, which is rare for community clinics because of the expense, Ms. Rider said.

The supplies for the dental clinic cost five times more than the supplies for the rest of the clinic, she said. Some help will come soon from a south Augusta neighbor, the Covidien plant.

The plant, which makes woven gauze, produces a wide variety of medical supplies, including sterile pads that it can now provide free to the clinic, said plant manager Rick Reed.

Many Americans are now suffering from a lack of access to health care and the inability to pay for it, Mr. Barrow said.

“Neighborhood health centers bridge both gaps,” he said.

Reach Tom Corwin at (706) 823-3213 or tom.corwin@augustachronicle.com.

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