Fiscal year 2025 expanded hours. - community health centers of western kentucky, INC

H80CS00562 community health centers of western kentucky, INC. (CHCWK) has provided primary care services as a 330-funded federally qualified health center (FQHC) since 1994. Beginning as a small single site health center, CHCWK has continuously expanded sites and services to respond to the unmet need for health care in the rural, impoverished community. CHCWK operates a total of five sites strategically located throughout the three-county service area. Due to the continued demand for accessible services, we are in the process of constructing a sixth site (projected to open september 1, 2024). Population group to be served: CHCWK's target population consists of the low-income and medically underserved residents of the service area. Needs to be addressed: CHCWK's rural service area faces a shortage of providers, particularly those who will see the uninsured or those covered by medicaid. The entire service area is federally designated as a health professional shortage area and medically underserved area. In addition to provider shortages, the target population suffers from significant health disparities and difficult life circumstances, including high rates of poverty, uninsured, and unemployment, and geographic barriers to accessing care. CHCWK is the only FQHC in the entire rural service area, serving as the sole safety net provider for the target population. When CHCWK is not open (during evenings and weekends), the target population can only access care at the local emergency room. Although there are a handful of urgent care centers, they are not financially accessible for the target population; they require $100 - $250 upfront (depending on visit type) before being seen. These urgent care centers also are not designed to provide ongoing primary medical care, are not equipped to handle the complex needs of patients with chronic illness, and do not offer all screenings and services T ogether with critical case management services. Lack of evening and weekend primary care hours deeply impacts the working poor in our service area. With no access to evening or weekend appointments, individuals that work traditional hours must take time off work, often unpaid, to attend appointments. This is especially problematic for patients with behavioral health needs or chronic disease that require frequent visits. Many OPT not to go to the doctor due to lost wages. Further impacting access to care in our community, our russellville site is at full capacity based on facility size. There is no physical space to add more providers, but unmet need for health care services remains. Opening up weekend hours will address this challenge, and allow US to see more patients for medical and behavioral health services. The need for expanded hours has been determined through several means, including recent local needs assessment reports, patient satisfaction surveys, ongoing feedback from providers, and input from the board of directors. Expanding hours has been a strategic priority for CHCWK for several years, but we have not had the resources to implement this initiative. Proposed services/meeting community need: CHCWK is proposing to directly address the need for expanded hours through the addition of evening and weekend hours at multiple sites, adding 29 hours total at three of our service sites. Medical and behavioral health services will be offered during these expanded hours. We will add weekend hours at our logan county community health center site, including saturdays and sundays (medical services). Our main site in greenville will be open in the evenings, monday - thursday (medical services). We will also add evening hours at our women's health and behavioral health services site in greenville, monday - thursday (behavioral health services). Proposed expanded hours will provide access to evening and weekend appointments for 788 patients with 2,600 VI sits annually.