The Flint Hills Community Health Center will be submitting a proposal that may allow it to share grant money for a dental hub and expand the center’s primary-care clinic.
Lougene Marsh, executive director of the center, told board members during their monthly meeting Tuesday afternoon that the Legislature appropriated $2 million to expand clinics, with $500,000 of that going to support dental hubs. The appropriation includes $1 million for expansion of primary-care clinics.
Marsh said the state in inviting proposals for dental hubs, including planning, implementation, capacity-building or “spoke” expansion. “Spoke” is defined as outreach efforts through either fixed satellite clinics or portable clinics that take dental care to schools or senior living areas.
Marsh said she broke the center’s dental hub proposal into three years.
Year One would include hiring a full-time dental hygienist (already hired); continuing school-based sealant program and add additional counties; remodel existing clinic and adding to allow sufficient space for a second dentist.
Among Year Two’s goals are adding one full-time dentist and adding two dental assistants.
Year Three’s goals would include increasing the hours of the biller to full-time and continuing spoke expansion to additional counties.
Marsh said the primary-care clinic request was based on the work initiated through the Project RevUP program at the center.
“Through the pilot phases of the project, it became evident that additional clinical and operational support would be required in order to reach and sustain the productivity goals of reducing cycle time, increasing provider productivity and increasing collection,” Marsh said in a written report.
Marsh said additional staff such as a licensed practical nurse, a managed care clerk and intrepreter and one medical records clerk would be needed to reach RevUPs goals.
The board authorized the board president, Helen Gibson, to sign the grant proposal later this week.
Also at Tuesday’s board meeting, the finance committee approved capital asset requests. These include: three dental handpieces (used to clean teeth); a computer; and an EKG machine.
Items in Marsh’s written report:
F Graves pharmacy reported that in May it dispensed 1,153 prescriptions to 670 patients. The average cost to the client was $6.26 per prescription with the average cost to patients below 100 percent of the Federal Poverty Level at $2.87.
F National Health Center Week will be from Aug. 5-11.
outsidethebox (anonymous) says...
Nothing about the providers leaving and not being able to repalce them?
June 27, 2007 at 1:09 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )