By Ronica Shannon
Register News Writer
BEREA —
A rural health clinic soon will be able to serve more people, offer more services and operate longer hours because of grant funding received from Catholic Health Initiatives.
The $398,610 grant will be administered over a three-year period. The cost of the grant is mostly for salaries, according to Katie Heckman, community relations manager for St. Joseph — Berea.
“Having paid employees allows more consistency for Berea Health Ministries as they serve the community,” she said.
The first funding allotment will be for $177,160.
“The amount decreases each subsequent year,” Heckman said. “By the end of the third year, the services provided by the clinic will have to be totally funded by other sources. The community has been wonderful in supporting the current services of Berea Health Ministries.”
Applying for the Mission and Ministry grant was a two-month process.
“There are two types of grants: planning and project,” explained Flora Washburn, mission leader/chaplain at St. Joseph — Berea. “Since Berea Health Ministries is already in existence, we applied for a project grant. The grant was accepted as a support to an already existing ministry that serves the poor and undeserved, which keeps us from duplicating another service.”
Berea Health Ministry Rural Health Clinic, a non-profit organization, was founded on Nov. 23, 2003, and is a certified rural health clinic operated under a board of trustees.
There is a $20 co-pay for each office visit, but no person is turned away because of his or her inability to pay.
The clinic, formerly located at 132 Mini Mall Drive, now has re-opened on the bottom floor of St. Joseph — Berea Hospital to meet the needs of nine counties in addition to Madison.
Hours of operation for the clinic are Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (evening by appointment only), and the office is closed Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
“The funding will help Berea Health Ministries extend hours of primary care for poor, uninsured and underinsured to allow them to come in other than work hours,” Washburn said. “The hope is to also provide health education opportunities.”
The services provided include primary health care and preventive health care. Berea Health Ministries is in the process of interviewing for the positions that have been created with the grant funding.
This is the first time that Berea Health Ministry Rural Health Clinic has applied for a Mission and Ministry grant from Catholic Health Initiatives.
“Everywhere that our grants go, we see evidence that they help meet identified needs and help bring about significant improvements in the health of communities, both in the U.S. and abroad,” said Kevin Lofton, president and chief executive officer of Catholic Health Initiatives.
The grant will allow a partnership between Berea Health Ministries and St. Joseph — Berea.
“We are very excited about this opportunity to partner with Berea Health Ministries as they strive to provide better services for our community,” Washburn said. “Berea Health Ministry provides access to care that many people would not otherwise receive.”
Visit www.bereahealthministry.com for more information about the Berea Health Ministry clinic.
Ronica Shannon can be reached at rshannon@richmondregister.com or 624-6608.
