Thanks to ongoing funding from the Primary Care Access and Stabilization Grant (PCASG) program, people in the Greater New Orleans area will soon have more convenient, local access to primary health care, mental health treatment and counseling, HIV/AIDS treatment and counseling and other health services.

For instance, these grant funds will allow Mercy Family Center – a multidisciplinary outpatient mental health clinic for children, adolescents and their families – to open a new facility in Algiers in February. This will provide improved access to mental health counseling and treatment to young people on New Orleans West Bank.

Meanwhile, the grant program has enabled the NO/AIDS Task Force, the oldest HIV/AIDS service organization in the Gulf South, to expand its primary care clinic operations to a full five days a week, while also enlarging its facilities, improving its equipment and hiring new caregivers.

“We were a very small clinic, but now were growing up,” said NO/AIDS Task Force Executive Director Noel Twilbeck. “The PCASG awards have allowed us to expand our capacity to serve those with HIV in the Greater New Orleans area, while also providing us the flexibility to improve the quality of the clinical services we offer.”

Through the grant, a second round of funding totaling $13,049,807 was recently awarded to 25 health care provider organizations in the New Orleans area. This supplemental round of funding follows an initial round of awards dispersed last September totaling $16,721,920.

The three-year, $100 million Primary Care Access and Stabilization Grant is designed to meet the increasing demand for health care services in the four-parish greater New Orleans area, while decreasing the reliance on emergency room usage for primary care services. The grant was awarded to the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services last year. The Louisiana Public Health Institute is administering the grant as the local partner of DHH.

Funds have been awarded to provider organizations in order to assist with stabilization, restoration and expansion of outpatient primary care services. Public and private non-profit organizations serving Orleans, Jefferson, St. Bernard or Plaquemines parishes were eligible for funding through the grant, including primary medical, mental health and substance abuse treatment providers.

In order to qualify for funding, public and private not-for-profit organizations were required to show that they had been providing eligible primary and/or behavioral health care services for at least 20 hours per week since June 18, 2007 to people regardless of their ability to pay.

Beyond its role as steward and distributor of grant dollars, the Louisiana Public Health Institute is charged with providing technical assistance to the grant recipients to link them with the tools they need to succeed. Some recipients have found that the process of applying and reporting for the grant has actually helped them improve the efficiency of their operations and, consequently, the quality of the services they offer.

“Reporting for the grant forces a clinic like ours to take a look at the people we serve and where they come from,” explained Stephen Engro, director of development for Mercy Family Center. “For instance, we found roughly a quarter of our patients were over the age of 18. Many had started receiving services during adolescence and simply continued to receive their treatment into adulthood. We have now taken this into account for our planning process and are looking into how we can assist these patients as they transition into other services.”

Data gathered since the primary care grant program began shows clinics that received funding provided medical or behavioral health care to approximately 24,000 patients during the six month period between March and September 2007. An additional 20,000 low-income patients on Medicaid received care at one or more of these clinics during the same period. Overall, more than 70,000 area residents received medical or behavioral health care at a grant-funded clinic during the period.

To find out where primary care clinics are located throughout the region, visit gnocdc.org and look under the Community Resources heading for Clinics, or simply download a map and list directly here. For more information and/or a list of PCASG-funded health care service providers, click here.

Submitted by Rob Anderson. Filed under Post-Hurricane Healthcare

Comments

Press Release Headline – New Orleans Urgent Center Announces Accreditation Award of Excellence New Orleans, LA – (February 12th, 2008) – New Orleans Urgent Care is pleased to announce the recent Accreditation Award granted by the Urgent Care Association of America to its urgent care center, located at 900 Magazine Street in New Orleans, Louisiana. Each urgent care center was rigorously inspected in on-site surveys to evaluate the quality of patient care, the performance of their clinical and administrative team members, and the demonstrated commitment to excellent levels of patient safety, and honoring patient rights and confidentiality. Pursuing Accreditation is a voluntary commitment made by an urgent care center to demonstrate to the community that the center is dedicated to delivering high quality care and maintaining high levels of patient satisfaction with every visit. “We are thrilled to open our doors to Downtown New Orleans and to be able to provide the much needed quality care” said Dr. Ajsa Nikolic MD, medical director. Opened 7 days a week with onsite digital Xray and a mini lab, the office offers walk-in medical care. They accept most insurance plans and have a deposit policy for uninsured patients. For more information, contact: New Orleans Urgent Care – 900 Magazine Street, New Orleans, LA 70130 – Jenny Marino (504) 552 2433 or visit the website at www.NewOrleansUrgentCare.com For information on urgent care center accreditation, visit www.ucaoa.org.
ajsa nikolic on February 12th, 2008

I'm working with the Gulf Coast Health Task Force. We last met on Jan 14, 2008 at Dillard University. Each of us have a specific task assigned from the meeting. Our focus is on Mental Health in New Orleans and the need to find available grants for much needed mental health assistance in New Orleans. If you can be of some assistance it would help us as we meet once again at Dillard in April. specifically, what is available in existing grants on a government, philanthropic, state/federal, faith based grants? Apologies for such a large request. We have studied and experienced the problem and know the great impact an improved mental health system would have on New Orleans. Jack Gilroy, Gulf coast Mental Task Force Team
Jack Gilroy on March 26th, 2008

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Dominique on June 24th, 2008

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Dominique cain on June 24th, 2008

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Dominique cain on June 24th, 2008

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Dominique cain on June 24th, 2008

I need help with my brother who has been shot and is unable to do anything for his self need help getting things for him so that he can come home please help if you can please send e-mails to me thanks
Dominique cain on June 24th, 2008

I need help with my brother who has been shot and is unable to do anything for his self need help getting things for him so that he can come home please help if you can please send e-mails to me thanks
Dominique cain on June 24th, 2008

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