JOHNSTOWN, PA | By BETH ANN MILLER bamiller@ourtownjohnstown.com | Updated
Original article can be found at: https://www.dailyamerican.com/
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In the 20 years since it first opened its doors, the Johnstown Free Medical Clinic has adapted its services to meet the challenges of providing medical care to uninsured residents of Cambria and Somerset counties.
On March 21 the clinic officially adopted a new name — Highlands Health: Laurel Highlands Free and Charitable Medical Clinic — and a revised mission statement that more accurately describes its expanding role within the region.
Kayla Carr, communications director, also announced a series of events scheduled for this summer and fall to celebrate the clinic’s 20th anniversary: an anniversary dinner June 19, the annual summer benefit concert Aug. 25 and a golf outing fundraiser Sept. 24.
The addition of the words “charitable” and “under-insured” represent another step forward in the expansion of services the clinic provides, Executive Director Rosalie Danchanko said.
“We’ve broadened our mission,” she said. “We were always a free clinic — now we’re free and charitable. Charitable reflects the opportunity to accept payment, and then we added the word ‘under-insured.’
“As we reach out to the under-insured, we will be able to charge third-party insurances. To be able to do that, we are completing an application to become a Federally Qualified Health Center Look-Alike (aka FQHC). Once we are certified as an FQHC, then we will be able to bill those insurances.”
The clinic’s goal, Danchanko said, is to help uninsured and under-insured people in Cambria and Somerset counties receive the medical help they need to get and stay healthy and productive.
“The goal is, you come in, we serve you, we help you get insurance, we help you find a PCP (aka primary care physician), a doctor,” she said. “That’s the goal, we want them to have a PCP – but it takes three months sometimes (to do that), so in the meantime, if you have insurance but you don’t have a doctor, we’re not going to cut you off. We still need to know you’re going to get your medication.
“So for that interim, we’re providing the service that they’re using their medical card but in the future, we’d be able to bill. Right now, we can’t bill (for services).”
In 2017, the Johnstown clinic served 1,000 patients, or 10 percent of the estimated 10,000 residents of Cambria County who are uninsured. The northern part of Cambria County, including communities such as Nanty Glo and Northern Cambria, is an area where these services are especially needed, Danchanko said.
The Somerset clinic, located on the third floor of Somerset Hospital, served more than 150 patients in 2017. Many more could be helped there as well, she added.
“The other thing is that in the southernmost area of the county, they lack any resources. We’re trying to work with local funders to see if either we can establish a mobile vehicle to bring (people) into our clinic, or we can get additional funding to go to them. We’re targeting Meyersdale, Addison, Nanty Glo and Northern Cambria for mobile sites. It’s real apparent that we need to go to where the need is the greatest.”
And after 20 years of serving the community, there are people who still don’t know the clinic exists to help them.
“Call, because we’re going to have you come into the clinic and do an intake (to determine the patient’s medical needs),” Danchanko said. “The first time you come in, you’re going to see a doctor, and then we’re going to help you if you don’t have a doctor. So it’s something they should check out and explore. We’re here to help, and we care about them.
“We want people to come in here and feel comfortable. This isn’t a handout, this is an opportunity to get healthy.”
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