Federal funds will help Kansas health care organizations expand access

Five Kansas health care organizations received a combined $3,183,334 in federal funds to put clinics in areas with low access to health care.

GraceMed Health Clinic, based in Wichita, received $650,000; Community Health Center in Cowley County received $704,167; Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas received $475,000; Health Partnership Clinic of Johnson County received $650,000; and Sheridan County received $704,167.

The Health Resources and Services Administration, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, awarded the grants with Affordable Care Act funding. The department projects this will increase health care access for 19,683 Kansas patients.

The five organizations will use the money to start new clinics or fund services in areas with low access to health care.

Dave Sanford, CEO of GraceMed, said GraceMed will use the grant for operational costs once its south Wichita clinic opens. The new clinic will sit on the south branch YMCA campus on South Meridian. Sanford said GraceMed is still fundraising for construction costs but hopes to break ground this summer and open the clinic by spring 2016.

“This will help us cover a pretty significant part of the cost for uninsured folks,” he said, which he anticipates will be about 40 percent of the clinic’s patients.

Krista Postai, CEO of Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas, said the center will use its grant to build a new clinic in Parsons. According to data from the Kansas Health Institute, southeast Kansas has some of the worst health rankings in the state.

“Those of us that were born in southeast Kansas, like I was, love it and don’t want to leave, but we are entitled to access to health care even if we don’t have health insurance,” Postai said.

Labette County, where the new clinic will be located, is classified as critically underserved, according to the health center’s grant application.

“About 80 percent of the people who walk through our door the first year are uninsured, and sometimes haven’t had health care for decades,” Postai said. “It’s not uncommon for us to see individuals with end-of-stage heart disease or cancer.”

This story was originally published May 7, 2015 at 6:45 AM with the headline "Federal funds will help Kansas health care organizations expand access."