Chesapeake seeks federal aid for health clinic

CHESAPEAKE

City health leaders are seeking federal money for a community health center that would expand care to South Norfolk's low-income population.

The neighborhood qualifies for about $650,000 a year for a federal community health center, as a high poverty area with a relative shortage of physicians, said Nancy Welch, director of the Chesapeake Health Department.

The proposed center would be in the building that currently houses the South Norfolk Adult Clinic. The Chesapeake Health Department runs that clinic.

The new center would be run by a board of community members, more than half of whom are served by the facility. It would continue to receive city funding, as well as the federal money. Chesapeake Regional Medical Center would provide in-kind support.

"I'm very excited because this has been a goal since I came in the late '80s," Welch said. "South Norfolk desperately needs this."

At the South Norfolk clinic, one physician currently treats about 500 uninsured patients a year for chronic diseases.

As a community health center, it would be able to serve about 5,000 patients in its first year. It also would offer primary care, a pharmacy, obstetrics and gynecology services, prenatal care and access to dental care and mental health services.

Chesapeake Regional is overseeing an application to the federal government for funding, and city leaders have petitioned local congressmen to champion an appropriation in the federal budget. Additionally, President Barack Obama's 2011 budget includes money for 25 new centers.

Nationwide, about 1,100 federally supplemented community health centers provide care for about 17 million people. Chesapeake is the only South Hampton Roads city without one.

Both insured and uninsured patients are accepted at the centers, but they predominantly serve low-income people who lack insurance or are covered by a government program for the poor or elderly. The cost is based on ability to pay.

Officials say the new center wouldn't compete with the Chesapeake Care free clinic, which offers treatment to the city's estimated 32,000 people without medical insurance. Executive director Cathy Revell said her clinic serves a poorer population.

South Norfolk has long needed more health care to combat medical problems, such as relatively high rates of teen pregnancy and low birth weights, Welch said.

A disproportionate number of South Norfolk residents seek care at the emergency department of Chesapeake General Hospital, she said.

"Because these people don't have a medical home, the ER becomes their medical home," Welch said.

For years, Chesapeake Regional has hoped to address the lagging care in South Norfolk, said Michelle Laisure, chief government relations and corporate compliance officer.

"As a health care provider," she said, "you can't ignore that."

Amy Jeter, (757) 446-2730, amy.jeter@pilotonline.com