A Corning-based community health center will open a clinic in Paragould with help from a federal grant of more than $980,000, the health center's chief executive said Tuesday.
Brigitte McDonald, chief executive of First Choice Healthcare, said most of the $983,403 awarded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will help pay the salaries of a physician and nurse practitioner at the clinic for about two years.
The grant also includes $149,896 to pay for equipment in the clinic, which is in a building the health center purchased.
The clinic will help serve the uninsured and others, including those covered by Arkansas' expanded Medicaid program through the so-called private option, she said.
The newly insured "need access," McDonald said. "Just because they have insurance doesn't mean they can get in to be seen."
First Choice Healthcare, which also has clinics in Corning, Pocahontas, Walnut Ridge and Ash Flat, is among 12 federally funded community health centers that operate more than 100 clinics across the state.
The health centers operate in areas that lack other providers or have high numbers of people who lack insurance and have health problems. Patients pay fees that vary according to income.
The grant is part of $169 million in funding for community health centers that was announced Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The money, made available through the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, will help open 266 health center sites in 46 states, according to the department.
Metro on 08/12/2015