Senate President Mike Haridopolos and Senator Don Gaetz announced today the awarding of $3.2 million in primary care funding to four Northwest Florida health care organizations serving poor families.
Sacred Heart Hospital in Gulf County and the Bay County Health Department in Panama City will each receive $1.1 million. The Walton County Health Department will be awarded $750,000 and the Escambia Community Clinic is in line to get $294,000.
The funding comes from an initiative by Haridopolos, Gaetz and Health and Human Services Appropriations Chairman Joe Negron to provide a lower cost alternative than the emergency room for non-insured and Medicaid patients with health problems.
“When a Medicaid patient doesn’t have a primary care physician, illnesses that could have been treated sooner and for less money in a clinic setting turn into visits to the hospital emergency room,” Gaetz said. “Costs get shifted to paying patients, taxpayers get stuck with a bigger bill and patients don’t get the most appropriate care at the right time.”
The Haridopolos Primary Care Initiative is helping thirty-six communities across the state solve that problem by establishing or expanding primary care services for low-income patients.
“Our objective is better access, better care and better control of health care costs,” said President Haridopolos. “I’m pleased to join with Senators Gaetz and Negron in supporting the missions of four outstanding organizations with solid track records in providing primary health care services in Northwest Florida.”
President Haridopolos’ wife, Stephanie, is a family physician in Brevard County. Dr. Haridopolos joined her husband and Senators Negron and Gaetz last summer in a “health solutions tour” to listen to patients’ and providers’ suggestions for improving primary care.
The Bay County Health Department will use its funding to expand its clinic facilities, add an emergency room diversion program, and employ additional physicians and nursing personnel.
The Walton County Health Department intends to expand clinic hours to include Saturdays so individuals who might otherwise bring routine health problems to emergency rooms can have access to primary care. They will also hire advanced registered nurse practitioners to see patients who can be treated without the intervention of a physician.
Two additional physicians, two registered nurses and a health educator will be hired for the Gulf County community by Sacred Heart Hospital. A pharmacy assistance program will also be funded by the grant.
The Escambia Community Health Clinic, a charitable organization serving the Pensacola area, will use funding from the Haridopolos Primary Care Initiative to hire additional case managers to help patients get ready access to primary care services and then monitor their follow-up treatment to avoid trips to the emergency room.
The groups receiving awards are required to match state funds with local dollars or in-kind services.
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