Three health clinics in northeastern Wisconsin to receive economic recovery funds

Three health clinics in northeastern Wisconsin to receive economic recovery funds
By Larry Bivins
Appleton Post-Crescent
March 28, 2009

WASHINGTON — Three northeastern Wisconsin health clinics will receive economic recovery funding under a program to expand services offered at health care centers nationwide, Rep. Steve Kagen announced Friday.

The grants are targeted for health centers that treat the uninsured, according to the Department of Health and Human Services, which is making $3.9 million available to 16 community centers in Wisconsin.

In northeastern Wisconsin, Fox Cities Community Health Center in Menasha will get $207,324; Northern Health Centers in Lakewood will get $144,837, and N.E.W. Community Center in Green Bay will get $126,947.

"Health care is our nation’s greatest economic challenge, and guaranteeing affordable (health care) will build a better future for all of us," Kagen, D-Appleton, said in a statement.

The HHS grants will create or save about 73 jobs in Wisconsin over the next two years and enable health centers to provide care for an additional 29,945 patients, according to HHS. Other centers to receive funding include Madison, Marshfield, Milwaukee and Wausau.

Community health centers served 200,000 patients in Wisconsin last year, 61 percent of whom lived below the poverty level, according to Sen. Russ Feingold’s office.

"With this stimulus funding, Wisconsin community health centers will be able to extend their hours of operation, add new providers, expand their clinic facilities and provide more primary care to uninsured Wisconsinites," said Feingold, D-Wis.

Meanwhile, the Department of Transportation announced that the Federal Aviation Administration will provide $1.5 million for runway renovation at Austin Straubel International Airport near Green Bay.