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ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: December 12, 2006 <br />Action Agenda <br />Item No. ~ ' -F <br />SUBJECT: Primary Care Funds Acceptance <br />DEPARTMENT: Health PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No <br />ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />Grant Proposal Rosemary Summers, 245-2411 <br />PURPOSE: To accept start-up funding to provide primary care services to traditional Health <br />Department clients at Southern Human Services Center (SHSC). <br />BACKGROUND: In the 2003 Orange County Community Health Assessment, access to health <br />care was the number one health issue identified by the community. Concurrently, the Orange <br />County Health Department undertook a comprehensive need and feasibility study regarding <br />access to primary care services. A strong recommendation from that report was for the Health <br />Department to begin the provision of primary care services to its traditionally served clients, <br />initially in Hillsborough with eventual expansion to Chapel Hill. Doing so strengthened the <br />community safety net for low-income, uninsured residents and increased the availability of <br />access to primary care. <br />In January 2005, the Health Department received its first grant ($86,460) to begin primary care <br />services in the Hillsborough clinic. These funds were used to provide temporary personnel and <br />purchase needed primary care supplies, pharmaceuticals and equipment.' In the first 6 months <br />of operations, the County provided 196 encounters to 128 clients of which 50% had Medicaid <br />and 47% were on the sliding scale. Of those served based on the sliding scale, 91 % were in the <br />0% - 20% self-pay category. The focus was truly on reaching the uninsured and medically <br />indigent with .quality primary care services. <br />In December 2005, the Health Department received a continuation of the primary care grant in <br />the amount of $43,346 to continue primary care services in the Hillsborough clinic. In FY 05-06, <br />278 clients were served with 540 primary care encounters. Based on these successful efforts, <br />the Department was awarded a continuation primary care grant in the amount of $43,346 for FY <br />06- 07. From the period January 2005 through October 2006, the Department provided 910 <br />primary care services to 411 Health Department clients in the Hillsborough Clinic. Fifty-six <br />percent of the clients have had Medicaid and 42% have received services based on sliding <br />