Two community health clinics, one on St. Croix and one on St. Thomas, will receive a total of $750,000, the result of a 24-month effort to restructure the way the territory receives federal health funding.
The Bureau of Primary Health Care, a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, transferred $145,582 from the V.I. Department of Health to the Frederiksted Health Center on St. Croix and $128,437 to the St. Thomas East End Clinic Corp. to assist in their transition to independent facilities that can better meet the health care needs of the community, according to Delegate to Congress Donna Christian Christensen.
The Office of the Governor was also granted $130,000 to establish an overall primary health care plan and office in the territory.
Meanwhile, in an effort to battle the spread of HIV/AIDS on the local level, both clinics will receive $250,000 of Ryan White Title III – Early Intervention Services funds.
The funding came about through a series of visits to the territory over the past two years by Health and Human Services officials, including Assistant Surgeon General Marilyn Gaston, who is also the Associate Director of the Bureau of Primary Health Care, said Christensen.
"These are significant awards that place us on the way to implementing the changes that have been recommended based on the two visits that Dr. Gaston and her team made to the territory this year," Christensen said.
Some of the changes include bringing consumers, providers, payers and others into the planning and implementation of health services.
The team that visited the territory included Dr. Joel O'Neil, Director of AIDS programs at the Health Resources and Service Administration. His attention and that of others in DHHS, Christensen said, has been crucial in securing the funding.
"We’ve been able to increase our funding exponentially for HIV and AIDS over the last year to a tune of over $1 million," Christensen said.
The HIV/AIDS prevention funding orientated from grant applications prepared by the health clinics and the Interfaith Coalition.
Gene Woods, CEO of the Roy Lester Schneider Hospital on St. Thomas, said greater autonomy for the health clinics will result in increased primary care services, which could benefit the territory’s hospitals. He said 50 percent of the patients who seek care at the St. Thomas hospital could be treated in a clinic setting.