Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Contact: Jessica Robinson, 573-751-0290
Blunt Signs Legislation to Improve Kansas City Areas Health and Wellness
KANSAS CITY– Gov. Matt Blunt today visited Samuel Rodgers Health Center to announce the signing of a budget bill that significantly expands health care access for Missourians. Health care providers and area residents lauded the governor's success in again securing significant funding increases to support Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) and the more than 300,000 Missourians they serve.
"Missouri's health care facilities, like Samuel Rodgers Health Center, provide health care services for low-income and other traditionally medically underserved Missourians in our state - regardless if patients have health insurance," Gov. Blunt said. "My budget enhances the centers' ability to provide quality care and furthers the goal of making health care more accessible and affordable to all Missourians."
"The allocation made possible through the efforts of the governor's office and our legislature is a major step forward toward our ability to provide quality, accessible health care to the underserved and the poor. With more than $11 million committed in new funding, the Samuel Rodgers Health Center will begin planning to develop a new facility that will position our organization to meet the growing health care needs of our community both now and in the future," said Hilda Fuentes, executive director of Samuel Rodgers Health Center.
Blunt's Lewis and Clark Discovery Initiative will send $60 million to FQHCs to expand and support the services they deliver to low-income Missourians. In 2006, Missouri's community health centers served 307,000 Missourians through more than 1.1 million encounters.
Samuel Rodgers Health Center will receive $11.6 million for renovations, expansion and equipment. The Swope Health Center in Kansas City will also receive $1.5 million to provide a new location as well as renovate existing sites. The centers' doors are open to all, and this investment will further expand Missourians access to the care they need.
The governor also secured $5 million in next year's budget to enhance information technology at FQHCs through electronic health records system. Most patient health records are currently stored in paper form and housed with individual providers. An electronic health records system has the potential to dramatically improve Missourians' health and can make health care information more accessible to providers, consumers and public health agencies to empower them to make the best health care decisions for their patients.