HHS awards nearly half a million to expand COVID-19 testing to ACCESS Family Care

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), awarded nearly $583 million to 1,385 HRSA-funded health centers in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and eight U.S. territories to expand COVID-19 testing on Tuesday, May 12. Nearly 88 percent of HRSA-funded health centers report testing patients, with more than 65 percent offering walk-up or drive-up testing. Health centers are currently providing more than 100,000 weekly COVID-19 tests in their local communities.

This funding for health centers is part of the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act, signed into law by President Trump on April 24. The legislation provides funding for small businesses and individuals financially affected by COVID-19, additional funding for hospitals and healthcare providers and increased testing capabilities to help track the spread and impact of the coronavirus.

“This new funding secured by President Trump will expand the work health centers are doing to test Americans for COVID-19,” said HHS Secretary Alex Azar. “Widespread testing is a critical step in reopening America and health centers are vital to making testing easily accessible, especially for underserved and minority populations. Further, because health centers can help notify contacts of patients who test positive, they will continue playing an important role in cooperating with state and local public health departments.”

HRSA-funded health centers will use this funding to expand the range of testing and testing-related activities to best address the needs of their local communities, including the purchase of personal protective equipment; training for staff, outreach, procurement and administration of tests; laboratory services; notifying identified contacts of infected health center patients of their exposure to COVID-19; and the expansion of walk-up or drive-up testing capabilities.

“Health centers are a first line of defense, as they are testing for coronavirus and delivering high-quality primary care to our nation’s most vulnerable populations.” said HRSA Administrator Tom Engels. “In the fight against COVID-19, we must marshal all of our resources to keep Americans healthy and care for those who become ill.”

ACCESS Family Care was awarded $497,914 to address COVID-19 testing needs in southwest Missouri.

ACCESS Family Care (ACCESS), was founded in 1996 as a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) for the purpose of increasing access to primary health care for those who lack medical insurance coverage. As an FQHC, ACCESS receives a 330 Federal grant from the Bureau of Primary Health Care designed to offset the expenses associated with providing sliding fee discounts to patients who demonstrate economic need.

ACCESS Family Care is headquartered in Neosho, with Medical and Dental Clinics in Joplin, Neosho, Anderson and Cassville; Medical Clinics in Lamar and Aurora and a Dental Clinic in Carthage. ACCESS Family Care served more than 26,000 patients in extreme southwest Missouri, in 2019.