NEW ORLEANS -- City and state leaders are working on a plan to come up with $100 million to supplement federal funding for expanded health care in New Orleans that is about to expire. The new plan would leave out some people who now use clinics that the federal funding made possible.
The health care clinic at McMain Secondary School in Uptown New Orleans is one of the numerous health care clinics that have expanded access to health care for uninsured and underinsured people across New Orleans.
“These are typically primary care clinics, although it does include some pediatric clinics, some dental clinics, some behavioral health and mental health clinics,” said Dr. Cathi Fontenot of the LSU Health Sciences Center Health Care Network.
These clinics are all funded by the Primary Care Access and Stabilization Grant that the federal government awarded New Orleans in 2007.
The $100 million in federal funding over the past three years has provided a network of neighborhood clinics across the city. More than 75 clinic locations have served 292,000 patients, a total of 1.3 million visits in all. Five of the clinics are located in a school, like McMain.
There, Dr. Melissa Nass says the program has made preventive care and medical treatment accessible to young people who otherwise might have gone without it or gone to the emergency room for treatment.
“Kids that have access to a school-based health center are less likely to drop out of school,” Nass said. “They are less likely to engage in high risk behavior such as substance abuse and sexual activity.”
She said that because of what these young people learn here, they are also more likely to eat well and exercise. She adds that the health care providers here sometimes catch potential health issues before they become serious problems, such as the three-sport athlete Dr. Ryan Pasternak examined recently.
“We recognized pretty significant hypertension and a cardiac condition that needed to be taken care of before he could go back to play, and that was a potentially devastating consequence that was averted,” Pasternak said.
And when students come in with behavioral problems, a clinical social worker is right here to help.
“I've had kids come in who've attempted to kill themselves, maybe overdose or attempted to cut their wrists or maybe slit their arms, where we’ve had to assess triage and get them the services that they need,” said clinical social worker Armon Dauphin.
But all of this here, and at other clinics, is in jeopardy of going away at the end of the month when this federal grant runs out.
Mayor Mitch Landrieu and Gov. Bobby Jindal have come up with $30 million from Community Development Block Grants to bring another $70 million in funding.
Fontenot said the federal government has to approve a waiver under the Medicaid program to make that possible. She said if the waiver, expected by the end of the month, is rejected, a lot of these services would simply go away.
“I think it would be devastating for many people,” Fontenot said. “They would have to end up seeking their care back in emergency room settings and not get the preventive and wellness care that they deserve.”
But even with the waiver and millions in added funding, a lot of people will lose their health care because the waiver excludes some groups these clinics now serve.
“It excludes children under 19 years old,” Fontenot said. “It excludes illegals or undocumented folks. It excludes dental services which was and is important to provide.”
That means clinics like the one at McMain may be phased out, unless they can find independent sources of funding.
