COMMUNITY HEALTH CLINIC OLE
Grant: $900,090 - Health Resources and Services Administration - Jun. 25, 2009
No votes have been cast for this award yet
Join the conversation: Post a comment about this award
Award Description: Clinic Ole’s mission is to be the medical and dental home for Napa County’s underserved, providing high-quality, affordable, compassionate and culturally sensitive primary health care. We are Napa County’s only non-profit community health center. There is no County hospital here and no county-provided primary health care, so we are the provider of last resort for the thousands of uninsured and underinsured. We have grown exponentially in the past seven years since moving into our current Napa location: in 2002, prior to our move, we provided 24,000 medical visits annually. In 2008, that number rose to 67,787 patient visits and now includes dental visits. In our 37 year history, each time we open a new site or add clinical space to expand capacity, appointment slots are immediately filled. This past year, the economic downturn has resulted in our seeing more new patients than ever, and more uninsured patients. Just in the first three months of our IDS grant, after hiring a new physician, we saw 1,300 new patients, 40% of whom had no health insurance. CIP funding provides us with an opportunity to add seven new exam rooms to our main clinic site in Napa, which will allow us to provide an additional 5,000 patient visits annually. This will be accomplished in the most cost-effective manner possible, by purchasing a modular medical clinic that will be placed next door to our clinic. The unit will have six exam rooms, and our lab facilities, currently housed in our main clinic, will move to the modular unit. The current lab space will re renovated and turned into an additional exam room. The project will meet our community's immediate need for increased access to quality, affordable health care by our target population. In addition, CIP funds will allow us to purchase a generator that is large enough to run the entire Clinic in the event of a power outage. As a major partner in the Napa County Disaster Preparedness Plan, we have most of the necessary equipment, we have had significant staff training, and our role in a disaster response is clearly outlined. (We are the third largest medical facility in Napa, after the hospital and the Kaiser Permanente medical offices.) The generator is the only significant missing piece. CIP funds will also be used to purchase some minor medical equipment that will help improve quality of care and will integrate with our newly implemented electronic medical record. We need two pediatric lead testing units and a Bilirubin monitor for the growing numbers of children we see at the Clinic. (Recently, a local pediatrician who saw many Medicaid patients has retired.) Our current EKG machine is now outdated because it does not interface with our new electronic medical record. Finally, CIP funds will be used for a small needed repair to our drop down fire door at the registration desk, and for the installation of dividers at the registration desk to assure privacy, which is necessary now that so much patient data is exchanged at the front desk with the new electronic medical record system. Once we are at full capacity, we will have two additional full time physicians. These two physicians will generate other jobs, however, including medical assistants, front and back office staff, and billing staff. To summarize, the overall purpose of this award is to improve Clinic Ole’s ability to meet the ever growing demand for affordable health care in Napa County. The deliverables will be: add up to seven new exam rooms; provide 5,000 additional patient visits per year; hire two permanent full-time physicians; hire an estimated four permanent full-time staff to support the new providers; add approximately 1.0 full-time equivalent temporary construction job; and purchase minor medical equipment that will improve the quality of care we provide and integrate with the electronic health record; repair drop down fire door and renovate registration desk to assure patient privacy.
Project Description: Clinic Ole proposed two separate, but connected CIP projects. The 1133 project entails purchasing a modular clinic unit that will hold 6 exam rooms and placing it on the property located just next door to our main clinic. The current plan is to have the modular also house the lab. Moving the lab to the modular unit will free up space in our main clinic to convert the existing lab into 2 additional exam rooms. This renovation, along with the repair of our emergency drop down fire door at our reception desk and the installation of Plexiglas dividers to meet HIPAA privacy rules (necessary due to the recent implementation of a new electronic medical record system), and the purchase of a generator that will run the entire clinic in an emergency, as well as some minor medical equipment, constitute the 1141 project. On September 30, the grant conditions for the 1141 project were lifted. In the meantime, we have repaired the drop down fire door. Our next step will be to install the Plexiglas dividers and purchase the minor medical equipment. However, before we can purchase the generator, we must finalize our plans for the 1133 project because the location of the generator will depend on where and how we place the modular unit. We have been working with various individuals on the terms and conditions for our 1133 (modular) project. Our budget has been revised to indicate that the modular is a 'construction rather than an 'equipment line item as we had previously understood. We have received the landlord’s approval for the project and the NFI is prepared and will be filed on October 5. We have hired a project manager who has released an RFP for required civil engineering services, is requesting bids from several modular unit companies, and is working with SHPO to assure Section 106 and NEPA compliance. While we already have a completed Phase I Environmental Site Assessment, the project manager has begun working on the additional environmental studies required.
Infrastructure Description: Clinic Ole’s infrastructure investment will contribute primarily to the Recovery Act’s purpose of assisting those most impacted by the recession, and to a lesser extent, that of preserving and creating jobs and promoting economic recovery. Since 1972, the Clinic has been serving the low-income, uninsured and underinsured residents of Napa County. While traditionally, our patient population has been nearly 70% Latino, with over 50% working in Napa Valley vineyards and wineries, as the economy worsens, our patient demographics are changing. We are seeing more non-Latino patients than ever before, and more patients working in sectors other than agriculture. kA recent report in the San Francisco Chronicle indicated that in the past year, 4,100 jobs were lost in Napa County. Of those, only 100 were agricultural jobs with the majority being in leisure/hospitality and manufacturing. Many of these 4,100 individuals are finding themselves without health insurance for the first time, and are coming to us for care, telling us how grateful they are that we are here for them. Without Clinic Ole, thousands of patients would go without needed health care and would be more likely to wait until a minor illness develops into a more serious one, requiring more invasive and costly treatment. More patients would end up in the local emergency rooms for non-emergent care. This CIP project speaks directly to the Recovery Act’s goal of assisting those most impacted by the recession by being a source of quality, affordable health care.
Jobs Summary: No jobs have been created as of yet. (Total jobs reported: 0)
Project Status: Less Than 50% Completed
This award's data was last updated on Jun. 25, 2009. Help expand these official descriptions using the wiki below.
No comments have been added for this project.