Scott Swanson
Of The New Era
A $600,000 federal grant will result in establishment of a new community clinic in Lebanon to serve east county residents, including Sweet Home, who have no health insurance or are under-insured.
The administrator of the federal Health Resources and Services Administration, Dr. Elizabeth Duke, presented the money to local healthcare officials at a ceremony Friday morning at Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital.
The new clinic, called the East Linn Community Health Center, will be located across Highway 20 from the hospital in the Lebanon Professional Center. It will begin operating in January, providing primary care, public health and mental health services. It will also work to enhance coordination of care and referrals between public and private health care providers, officials said. It will be operated cooperatively by the Benton Community Health Clinic in Corvallis, LCH and Linn County Public Health Department. Benton County received a similar grant three years ago, which led to the establishment of its clinic.
“This is going to help a huge population of people who don’t have access to health care,” predicted Becky Pape, hospital chief executive officer. “I look at this as a win-win.”
The HRSA, an agency that is part of the Department of Health and Human Services, has increased access to medical care for areas identified as high-poverty need counties that lack community, migrant or homeless health centers.
Tim McQueary of Sweet Home, a new board member of the Benton Clinic, said this grant is a result of the success of the Benton Clinic in helping those who lack access to medical care.
“I think this is a tremendous opportunity,” he said. “This recognizes the effort that Benton County has already gotten started with the previous grant so we have the advantage of building on what they’ve already got going, without starting over.”
Pape said hospital and Benton Center officials decided to apply for the grant last spring, though hospital officials weren’t optimistic that they would get funding. But they got word in September that the grant was approved, said Sherlyn Dahl, executive director of the Benton Center.
“This is a whirlwind,” she said of the fact that the facility will open in a month.
Dr. Rick Wopat, vice president of community benefit for Samaritan Health Services, said the clinic will greatly improve on what is currently offered by the East Linn Community Clinic in Lebanon, which was established in the early 1990s. That facility is only open one evening per week, whereas the new clinic will be open five days a week.
“We’re expanding access and we’ll provide continuity (of care),” he said.
“This will certainly improve access for people with low incomes because it’s going to expand the hours.”
Judy Corwin, a spokeswoman for the Benton Clinic, said that it now serves a “large patient base” in Sweet Home and Lebanon. She said many local physicians work with the clinics, in some cases on a pro bono basis, to make sure patients get basic care.
Officials said one advantage of the collaboration is that the Benton Clinic staff has learned how to negotiate the difficult maze of government paperwork required of grant recipients.
“Having Benton County (involved) is an advantage because of their experience in the mind-boggling, bookkeeping nightmare,” said County Commissioner Cliff Wooten.
Duke, the HRSA administrator, praised the collaboration that is occurring, telling them that they have “made a difference.”
“It isn’t easy to do what you’re doing,” she told a group of hospital and public health officials gathered to witness the check presentation, noting that they are facing the realities of political and geographical turf.
“I applaud you for thinking about the spirit and soul of your patients,” she said. “That’s the key, when, at some point, we realize that the people we’re seeing is what it’s all about.”