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Uncertainty about federal funding is the cause
YOUNGSTOWN
Uncertain about future federal funding, One Health Ohio, a federally qualified health center, has put on hold the much-anticipated integrated health care project for Mahoning County.
“In a nutshell,” said One Health Ohio Chief Executive Officer Dr. Ronald Dwinnells, “until more is known about our future funding we have to put a hold on the $2 million project.”
There are strong rumors from reliable sources that federally qualified health centers such as One Health Ohio, the lead organization in the Mahoning County integrated health care project, will have their federal grants cut by 70 percent by 2015, Dr. Dwinnells said.
One Health Ohio, based at the Youngstown Community Health Center on Wick Avenue, also operates health clinics in Warren and Alliance.
One Health Ohio plans three to five years ahead, Dr. Dwinnells said.
“We have had discussions with federal officials about the rumored 70 percent cut in our grant by 2015 reported by the National Association of Community Health Centers, telling them we need to plan.”
“They know about our integrated health care plan because it’s a big deal. But they won’t tell us anything. They say, ‘Do the best you can,’” Dr. Dwinnells said.
As a consequence, Dr. Dwinnells said One Health Ohio made the decision Wednesday to put the integrated health care project on hold.
The project involves constructing a $2 million, 8,500-square-foot building for physical health care attached to the side of Turning Point Counseling Center, which serves adults, and is across the parking lot from D&E Counseling Center for children and families, creating a one-stop medical facility.
Turning Point and D&E are core agencies funded by the Mahoning County Board of Health.
“We still believe in the concept and will be looking for alternate funding to help support this important endeavor. But, because no one will commit right now about the FQHC grant and future reimbursement structure, we can’t commit to a $2 million project,” he said.
There also is a lot of talk about cutting Medicaid reimbursement to hospitals and clinics, which would hurt One Health Ohio badly because the majority of its patients are uninsured, under-insured or on Medicaid, Dr. Dwinnells said.
The theory behind the Affordable Care Act is that everyone is supposed to have health insurance.
It seems the thinking is, if everyone has health insurance, then why are safety-net organizations such as One Health Ohio needed, so take away their funding, Dr. Dwinnells said.
But, he doesn’t believe all of the uninsured will go away anytime soon.
One Health Ohio has two full-time workers helping people sign up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, and they so far have gotten just three qualified.
“It’s an arduous process. There are still significant delays in the system. The review process at the federal level to determine if applicants qualify is what’s taking a long time,” he said.
Though One Health Ohio is not going ahead with the integrated health care project at this time, Dr. Dwinnells said it is not abandoning the project.
“We’re very disappointed. We’ve done enough clinical research now to give credibility to the notion that integrative health care delivery works, and it is too important to not do this,” he said.
Some 70 percent of the people who walk through the door at One Health Ohio have some behavioral-health issue such as depression or addiction to alcohol or drugs, he said. Doctors refer them and arrange appointments two or three weeks into the future, but most do not keep the appointments.
“The beauty of the close proximity of behavioral and physical care facilities in an integrated health system is immediate treatment, the so-called “warm hand-off” or “real-time intervention. An integrated health system improves the rate of identification of issues, and I believe behavioral health has a lot to do with physical health,” he said.
“My dream and desire is to do this for kids and families and adults. I’m not going to let go of it,” he said.