Western Pennsylvania health centers granted $1.6M under Obamacare

Sept. 13--Six health centers in Western Pennsylvania will use $1.6 million in grants under the Affordable Care Act to hire staff and expand services in anticipation of seeing more patients who have gained health insurance under the law.

The Department of Health and Human Services on Friday announced the funding, which was part of $9.1 million in grants to 38 health centers in the state that provide primary health care services to people on a sliding-scale fee depending on income.

"Health centers are a key part of how the Affordable Care Act is working to improve access to care for millions of Americans," HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell said.

This is the second year of grants to health centers under President Obama's health overhaul law. The six centers in Western Pennsylvania received a total of $776,700 last year.

The largest grant this year, $528,010, went to Primary Health Network, a Sharon-based nonprofit that operates 40 health centers in 11 counties in Western Pennsylvania. CEO Jack Lange said his organization is using the money to pay staff at an urgent care center it opened in Clarion this month, as well as to hire a primary care physician in New Castle and contract for obstetrician-gynecologist services in Punxsutawney.

"Those are services that we didn't have before," Lange said.

The urgent care center in Clarion is "quite needed," he said, and has been seeing about 30 patients a day.

The Squirrel Hill Health Center will use a grant of $203,232 to hire a full-time nurse practitioner, a receptionist, a medical assistant and a registered nurse, said Susan Friedberg Kalson, the center's executive director.

Added staff will allow the center to stay open longer in the evenings and on weekends, Kalson said.

"We are really at capacity with the amount of staffing we have," she said. "It's really going to let us amp up across the board and make it easier to make an appointment to see us."

The center's staff of 35 saw more than 4,700 patients during 15,500 visits last year, she said. This year, she said, the center is expected to treat more than 5,000 patients during more than 16,000 visits.

"We have been experiencing steady, significant growth over the last three to four years."

Alex Nixon is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-320-7928 or anixon@tribweb.com.

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