Connecticut health centers to receive $2M in grants

Connecticut health centers will get a total of nearly $2.4 million in federal grant money to help improve services.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Wednesday that 16 health centers in the state will get the grants, funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration, which will be used to “continue to improve quality, efficiency, and the effectiveness of health care delivery in the communities they serve.”

Health centers getting the receiving the grant money include Southwest Community Health Center in Bridgeport; Optimus Health Care, Inc., with offices in Bridgeport, Stratford, Milford and Stamford; and Norwalk Community Health Centers, among others.

Optimus will receive several grants through the program, which, said its CEO, Ludwig Spinelli, “will assist in documenting the excellent care our patients receive.”

The money will be used for, among other things, upgrading the center’s electronic health records system, and improving its patient portal — a secure website that gives patients round-the-clock access to their personal health information.

“It’s all about letting the patient have responsibility over their own care,” Spinelli said.

The grant announcement comes during National Health Center Week, which highlights the role community health centers play in providing affordable primary health care.

“Community health centers provide coordinated, comprehensive, and patient-centered care to millions of Americans,” said HHS Deputy Secretary Eric Hargan in a news release. “They have a track record of delivering quality care at significantly lower cost, and are vital partners in our movement toward a health system that delivers quality, affordable, value-based health care for all Americans.”

In 2017, more than 27 million people (approximately 1 in 12 U.S. residents) relied on a Health Resources and Services Administration-supported health center for affordable, accessible primary healthcare including one in nine children 17 years or younger; one in five rural residents; one in three people living in poverty; and more than 355,000 U.S. veterans.