Obama announces funding for health clinics in Georgia, elsewhere

By Bob Keefe

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Washington -- At Palmetto Health Council’s seven clinics for the underprivileged in metro Atlanta, the number of patients seen by doctors has swelled by more than 1,200 in the last three months alone because of the recession and high unemployment.

Some patients have to wait four weeks to see a doctor at the company’s south Fulton County clinic.

“We’re now seeing people who previously had insurance through their company who have lost their jobs,” Palmetto CEO Jon Wollenzien said. “Others are still employed, but their employers have cut back on their (contributions) so much that (individuals) can’t afford their premiums or co-pays.”

Wednesday, Wollenzien traveled to Washington and returned to Atlanta with some help from the federal government.

President Barack Obama announced the government will spend more than $500 million to upgrade and expand community health clinics like Palmetto’s in 30 states as part of the White House’s latest attempt to create jobs and improve health care services.

As part of the program, Palmetto will get more than $6.3 million to build a new clinic in south Fulton. Another clinic operator, Southwest Georgia Health Care Inc., in Richland, will get $1.2 million through the program.

With its share of funding, Palmetto plans to build a new 21,000 square foot medical office in south Fulton that is expected to create at least 50 new construction jobs and add 15 full-time employees at the clinic.

When complete sometime in 2012, Wollenzien said the new clinic will allow Palmetto doctors to see between 12,000-15,000 patients in south Fulton -- more than twice as many as it can see today.

“We would not have been able to meet the needs of the residents of south Fulton County if not for this funding,” Wollenzien said after a meeting in Washington where Obama announced the grants. “We’re operating at capacity.”

Obama announced the government also will dole out more than $88 million in grants through the program to help jump-start a transition from paper to electronic medical records.

Some clinics that will receive money also plan to participate in a three-year trial to develop a new comprehensive healthcare delivery system specifically for Medicare beneficiaries that the White House calls its “medical home” program.

“Together, these three initiatives . . . won’t just save money over the long-term and create more jobs, they’ll give more people the peace of mind of knowing that health care will be there for them and their families when they need it,” Obama said. “Ultimately, that’s what health reform is really about.”

The money will come through the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Clinics had to apply for the money and they were awarded through a competitive grant process.