Palmetto Health Council

Westmoreland announces grant for Meriwether clinics

U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland is pleased to announce that Palmetto Health Council has received a $1,069,096 federal grant to develop and operate two community health clinics to serve the uninsured and underinsured in Meriwether County.

“This is great news for the people of Meriwether County, particularly those worried about access to high-quality health care because of high costs and the lack of insurance,” Westmoreland said. “Palmetto has a successful track record developing and operating community health centers. In fact, the Meriwether facilities will join several others already operating in other counties in Georgia’s 3^rd Congressional District.”

Palmetto Health Council will partner with the Meriwether County Health Department to provide comprehensive primary care services out of the county’s two facilities located in Greenville and Manchester. These two entities will come to an agreement that will benefit the residents of the county. With this partnership the cost of services can be decreased while increasing the patient population through an internal referral network.

“Community health centers are an innovative and cost-effective,” Westmoreland said. “There’s no silver bullet that will cover all of our uninsured population, but health centers are a component of the solution to the ever-rising cost of health care for Georgia’s working families.”

Local clinics operate on federal funds and patient payments, so they come at no cost to the local and state government. They also relieve a lot of pressure and expense for local hospitals. Currently in Meriwether County there are uninsured and underinsured residents who have limited or no access to primary care or preventive services. There are not enough physicians willing or able to serve the uninsured population. This is evidenced by the fact that Meriwether County remains one of the only federally designated Health Professional Shortage Areas in Georgia. In the 2000 Census, 43 percent of Meriwether County residents live at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level, and 17 percent of the population is uninsured.

“Too often, Georgia families without insurance go the emergency room when they get sick,” Westmoreland said. “That’s inefficient, wildly expensive – and dangerous, because it diverts resources from true emergencies. In recent years, the federal government has pushed successfully to develop new community health centers and expand existing ones throughout the country. It’s a cost-effective means to provide working families with access to primary care. A trip to an emergency room for standard care costs taxpayers and hospitals, on average, more than $1,000 per visit. A visit to a community health center, by contrast, is going to be closer to $100. These ventures are good for working families trying to make ends meet, and they’re good for the taxpayers too.

“This grant leads the way on a new venture that will benefit the entire community; I look forward to continuing to work with Palmetto Health Council to improve access to health care for the people of Georgia’s 3rd Congressional District.”

WHO IS PALMETTO HEALTH COUNCIL?

Palmetto Health Council, Inc. (PHC) is a network of seven federally qualified health centers serving the uninsured and underserved populations south of Atlanta and north of Macon, Georgia. The offices of PHC can be found in Fulton, Lamar, Pike, Troup, Meriwether and Carroll counties.

PHC is a unique organization due to its presence in both rural and urban communities. PHC incorporated in 1978 with one office in the city of Palmetto, Georgia. In 1996, PHC merged with Pike County Primary Health Care to form a network of three community health centers. In 1998, PHC acquired an office in Franklin, Georgia from one of the local hospitals that had ownership. This office was relocated to Hogansville, Troup County, Georgia in 2007. Additionally, under the President’s High Poverty Initiative, PHC was awarded funding and opened a New Access Point in Carrollton, Georgia on January 4, 2008.

On March 2, 2009, President Obama announced the release of $155 million to fund 126 health center New Access Points in which Palmetto Health Council, Inc. received $1,069,000 to open two new points of access in Meriwether County, Georgia. Both locations are expected to open by July 1, 2009.

All the offices of PHC provide comprehensive primary care services. These services include family medicine, diagnostic testing, laboratory, immunizations, 24-hour provider coverage, health screenings, case management, outreach and translation. PHC has developed a Hispanic Clinic at its offices in Palmetto. This clinic provides staff that is culturally competent and fluent in Spanish. PHC provides obstetrical/gynecological services at its urban Palmetto location. All offices are staffed with board certified/board eligible family practitioners or mid-level providers that focus on the delivery of preventative, curative, and life enhancing services in the communities it serves. PHC is a participant in Phase II of the National Health Disparities Collaborative. Over the past several years, the PHC Board of Directors has been aggressive in their attempt at 100% access/0% disparities. The major emphasis for the PHC is its ever-constant drive to increase the number of uninsured and underinsured users that reside in its target market.