New medical clinic debuts

Facility located in Adult Probation building

Yuma County officials and health providers celebrated the grand opening Wednesday of a new medical clinic and other services in a remodeled section of the county Adult Probation building.

The clinic is expected to begin providing onsite care to probationers and their families once its licensing is completed in the next 30 to 60 days, and eventually will be open to anyone in the community who wants to make an appointment, providing a much-needed resource to Yuma’s North End.

Community Health Associates and mental health care provider Cenpatico applied for part of a $300 million federal grant passed through the state’s Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) to expand access to health care services, winning a five-year grant last year.

Yuma County is one of six locations statewide where medical clinics are being established near probation offices with AHCCCS grant money, but it’s the only one that’ll actually be in the same building as a probation services department.

Probation officers routinely refer their clients for medical or mental health care, even setting the appointments up, said county Deputy Chief Probation Officer Mike Byrd, but they may not have transportation, or are unable to locate the health care provider.

“Or sometimes they’ll go over there and they’ll be asked why they’re there, and they say, ‘I don’t know,’” Byrd said.

So with the clinic housed in the same building as their offices, the probation officers will be able to walk their clients over, introduce them to the front desk staff which already has all their information, and get their medical care rolling.

“Whether they’re showing the need for mental health care or medical care, they’re much more likely to get there through a ‘warm handoff,’” Byrd said.

The hope is that when probationers get the care and services they need, they will be less likely to reoffend and get sucked back into the correctional system. Their lives would improve and taxpayer money saved, as a result.

Fred Cogburn, CEO of Community Health Associates, said the federal grant is intended as startup funds. The first year’s total funding was about $300,000, and over the next four years will be based on benchmarks and incentives within the grant.

The first year’s award “didn’t cover all of the costs, but it certainly is what made this possible,” he said.

Byrd said the department serves about 1,200 probationers annually, and the clinic is expected to serve at least 300 of them in its first year, and has a goal of 500 by the end of the five-year grant.

“It should be easily selfsustaining, by then,” he said.

The clinic will be staffed by a nurse-practitioner, Dr. Shannon Meyers, with two medical assistants, a health care coordinator and front-office support staff. A Telemed link will connect those who need mental health care with another nurse practitioner who specializes in that field.

Two more local agencies will also have offices with one to two staff members next to the clinic: The Living Center Recovery and HOPE Inc,, both providing support for addiction and mental health recovery.

George Owens, specialty court liaison with Cenpatico, said he’s been impressed with the teamwork between all the entities involved with making the idea come to fruition. “I’ve never seen so many hands in the bucket, in such a wonderful way,” he said.

Once the clinic staff gets adjusted to the pace of caring for probationers, the plan is to begin taking appointments from others in the surrounding community who are covered by AHCCCS, and potentially other insurers as certification is obtained.

The overall facility will be known as North End Community Connections, and is located at 410 S. Maiden Lane, at the eastern entrance to the Adult Probation building. For more information about services to be offered, call (928) 248-8282.