Group seeks funds to build community health center

SANDPOINT — The Boundary Regional Health Center is looking for money to establish a new community health center in Bonner County.

The non-profit health center is seeking a Health and Human Services grant of up to $650,000 per year to build the center and to provide additional services through the North Idaho Partners in Care Rural Mobile Clinic to remote sites throughout the county.

The center would provide services regardless of income level, insurance, health status and ability to pay.

The health center would improve community health through timely access to preventive and maintenance care before health conditions become chronic, critical or untreatable. It would also reduce inappropriate use of emergency room services by people who have no health care provider and reduce uncompensated care given to people who cannot pay. In addition, the proposed center would provide 20-30 full-time health-care jobs.

Boundary Regional Community Health Center plans to give discounts for patients whose income is below 200 percent of the federal poverty level and will accept all private and public insurance plans. The center would provide primary medical care services, including family and pediatric care.

The health center also plans to provide dental and mental health care, and to have evening and weekend hours. Additionally, a new center would provide assistance with prescriptions, give reduced costs for lab services for those who qualify and help with insurance program eligibility determinations and enrollment.

The community health care center system is consistently cited by government and private analysts and studies as being among the most effective and efficient of all federally funded programs. It utilizes private non-profit consumer-managed local organizations to provide health care services tailored to the needs of each community in which a community health care center is located.