CARING COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER

CARING COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER (CCHC) WAS ESTABLISHED TO OPERATE A PRIMARY CARE MEDICAL CLINIC IN THE COMMUNITIES OF WILKES-BARRE, HAZLETON AND SCRANTON, PENNSYLVANIA, FOCUSING ON SERVING THE UNINSURED AND MEDICAID-INSURED POPULATIONS OF THOSE COMMUNITIES. THANKS TO THE START-UP DONATIONS AND FUNDING IT RECEIVED, CCHC APPLIED FOR FEDERALLY QUALIFIED HEALTH CENTER (FQHC) LOOK-ALIKE STATUS AND WAS APPROVED BY THE HEALTH RESOURCES & SERVICE ADMINISTRATION (HRSA) EFFECTIVE FOR JANUARY 2021. FQHCS ARE COMMUNITY-BASED AND PATIENT-DIRECTED ORGANIZATIONS THAT DELIVER COMPREHENSIVE, CULTURALLY COMPETENT, HIGH-QUALITY PRIMARY HEALTH CARE SERVICES. FQHCS ALSO OFTEN INTEGRATE ACCESS TO PHARMACY, MENTAL HEALTH, SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER, AND ORAL HEALTH SERVICES IN AREAS WHERE ECONOMIC, GEOGRAPHIC, OR CULTURAL BARRIERS LIMIT ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE SERVICES. FQHCS DELIVER CARE TO A COMMUNITY'S MOST VULNERABLE INDIVIDUALS AND FAMILIES, INCLUDING PEOPLE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS, AGRICULTURAL WORKERS, RESIDENTS OF PUBLIC HOUSING, AND VETERANS. CCHC WILL CONTINUE TO MEET HRSA'S REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN ITS FQHC LOOK-ALIKE STATUS AND WILL LOOK TO EXPAND ITS SERVICE AREA AND PROGRAMMING TO PROVIDE PRIMARY HEALTH CARE SERVICES TO THE PATIENT POPULATIONS IT SERVES. DURING 2021, CCHC PERFORMED MULTIPLE COVID VACCINE OUTREACH CLINICS WITH THE GOAL OF REACHING OUR VULNERABLE POPULATION. VACCINES WERE ADMINISTERED AT A HISPANIC COMMUNITY CENTER FOCUSING ON OUR HISPANIC POPULATION. ALSO, OF LARGE FOCUS WAS ADMINISTERING BOOSTER VACCINES TO OUR ELDERLY POPULATIONS WHO HAVE LIMITED OR NO TRANSPORTATION. THEREFORE, OUTREACH CLINICS WERE CONDUCTED AT LOCAL CENTERS FOR THE AREA ON AGING. CCHC ALSO CONDUCTED AN IN-HOUSE FAMILY VACCINE CLINIC WITH WHICH WE WERE ABLE TO DEDICATE STAFF TO SOLELY ADMINISTERING THE COVID VACCINE FOR INDIVIDUALS OF FIVE YEARS AND OLDER. AT EACH VACCINE OUTREACH CLINIC, STAFF HAD PROVIDED EDUCATION, LOCATIONS, AND THE LATEST CDC GUIDELINES REGARDING TESTING OPPORTUNITIES AND WHEN TESTING IS WARRANTED. IN ADDITION TO PERFORMING OUTREACH CLINICS, SEVERAL CCHC STAFF JOINED FORCES WITH SEVERAL LOCAL UNIVERSITIES AND THE LOCAL CHAPTER OF THE NAACP TO CONDUCT A ZOOM SESSION TITLED DEBUNKING THE COVID VACCINE MYTH. THIS ZOOM SESSION WAS LARGELY SUCCESSFUL REACHING AREA UNIVERSITY STUDENTS AND GENERAL MINORITY POPULATIONS. DURING 2022, CCHC CONTINUED THEIR OBJECTIVES TO REDUCE COVID SPREAD BY OFFERING COVID VACCINES FOR ALL AGES AND ON-DEMAND TESTING. VACCINES AND TESTING WERE EXTENDED INTO OUR EXPRESS CARE, AND WE'VE CONTINUED OUR COLLABORATION WITH THE LUZERNE COUNTY BRANCH OF DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, ADMINISTERING VACCINES AND TESTING AT COMMUNITY HEALTH FAIRS. A COLLABORATION WAS ESTABLISHED WITH THE LOCAL CHAPTER OF AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION FOR DISTRIBUTING BLOOD PRESSURE CUFFS FOR PATIENTS DIAGNOSED WITH HYPERTENSION. THIS ALLOWS HOME MONITORING AND REPORTING BACK TO THE PROVIDER FOR CLOSER MONITORING AND TREATMENT. POST-COVID HAS SEEN THE INCREASE IN DEPRESSION AMONGST OUR PATIENTS. CCHC OBTAINED IPADS THAT ALLOWS PATIENTS TO COMPLETE DEPRESSION AND SOCIAL SCREENINGS PRIOR TO THEIR EXAM. IPAD SCREENING HAS ALLOWED A DRAMATIC INCREASE IN IDENTIFYING PATIENTS SUFFERING FROM ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION. LASTLY, CCHC HAS INITIATED A PROJECT WITH EXACT SCIENCE FOR IN-CLINIC DISTRIBUTION OF KITS TO PATIENTS IN NEED OF COLON-RECTAL SCREENING. THROUGHOUT THE NATION, THIS PROJECT IS UNIQUE TO CCHC. PROCESSES WERE ALSO DEVELOPED TO RETURN THE KITS TO THE CLINICS, ALREADY RESULTING IN AN INCREASE OF COMPLETED KITS. THIS PROJECT REMAINS ONGOING. DURING 2023, CCHC CONTINUED ITS MISSION TO SERVE THE UNDERINSURED, NON-ENGLISH SPEAKING POPULATION OF LUZERNE COUNTY. CCHC HAS COLLABORATED WITH THE HAZLETON INTEGRATION PROJECT (HIP) TO PROVIDE LOCAL SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN WITH SCHOOL-REQUIRED VACCINES AND INTRODUCE THEM TO PRIMARY CARE. OUR EFFORTS HAVE RESULTED IN OVER 45 STUDENTS REMAINING IN SCHOOL FOR FULFILLING STATE, VACCINE REQUIREMENTS. INVOLVEMENT WITH THE HIP HAS ALSO ESTABLISHED A COLLABORATION FOR A HTN PROJECT WITH OUR HISPANIC POPULATION. THROUGH THIS PROJECT, MORE OF THE SURROUNDING PATIENT POPULATION HAVE BEEN CONNECTED TO PRIMARY CARE SERVICES RELATED TO OUTREACH EVENTS PERFORMING BLOOD PRESSURE MONITORING. IN THE PRIOR YEAR, CCHC COLLABORATED WITH EXACT SCIENCES TO INCREASE EFFORTS OF COLORECTAL CANCER (CRC), SCREENING FOR AGE-ELIGIBLE PATIENTS. PROCESSES OF IN-CLINIC KIT DISTRIBUTION AND RETURNS WERE INCORPORATED INTO THE EVERYDAY OPERATIONS OF CLINIC VISITS. THIS ALLOWED A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN PATIENTS BEING SCREENED ALONG WITH THE NECESSARY GASTROENTEROLOGY REFERRAL FOR THOSE PATIENTS WITH POSITIVE RESULTS. AN EXTENSION OF THE PROJECT TARGETED OUR AFRICAN AMERICAN POPULATION, KNOWN FOR ITS HIGHER INCIDENCE OF CRC AND INCREASED MORTALITY RELATED TO CRC. CCHC HAS ALSO COLLABORATED WITH THE LOCAL AGENCIES FOR WOMEN'S DRESS FOR SUCCESS. THIS PROGRAM UTILIZES SUPPORT EFFORTS AIMED AT BREAKING DOWN OBSTACLES FOR EMPLOYMENT. OUR CLINIC HAS HOSTED SEVERAL MEETINGS WITH PATIENTS AS PARTICIPANTS AND BOARD MEMBER INVOLVEMENT. LASTLY, CCHC HAS INCREASED PATIENT ACCESS TO SEVERAL OF OUR SERVICES. THIS WAS ACCOMPLISHED IN 2023 WITH THE ADDITION OF THREE FAMILY PRACTICE PROVIDERS, TWO PEDIATRICIANS, ONE BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SPECIALIST AND FOUR MID-LEVEL PROVIDERS FOR OUR URGENT CARE CENTERS. DURING 2024, ONE OF CCHC'S MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS WAS THE ADDITION OF A THIRD SERVICE SITE IN LACKAWANNA COUNTY, A NEIGHBORING COUNTY TO OUR TWO EXISTING CLINICS IN LUZERNE COUNTY. WITH THIS ADDITION, CCHC WAS ABLE TO INCREASE ITS SERVICE TO 19,200 UNIQUE INDIVIDUALS ACCORDING TO OUR UNIFORM DATA SYSTEM (UDS) STATISTICS. ADDING TO THE SUCCESS OF INCREASING APPOINTMENT AVAILABILITY, CCHC ACQUIRED TWO PHYSICIANS AND SIX ADVANCED PRACTICE PROVIDERS (APPS) TO COMPLIMENT THE CONCEPT OF CARE TEAMS, NOT ONLY INCREASING ACCESS BUT ALSO PROVIDING CONTINUITY OF CARE. IN CONJUNCTION, CCHC HAS OPENED A NEW EXPRESS CARE WALK IN CLINIC AT THE SCRANTON SERVICE SITE, OFFERING INCREASED ACCESS FOR ACUTE NEEDS WITH THE OBJECTIVE OF DECREASING ED UTILIZATION. THROUGH SUCCESSFUL RECRUITING, CCHC HAS DEVELOPED A ROBUST BEHAVIORAL HEALTH (BH) PROGRAM WITH THE ADDITION OF TWO PSYCHIATRISTS AND ONE LICENSED SOCIAL WORKER. THIS HAS PROVEN SUCCESSFUL IN PROVIDING MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES FOR THE EVER-INCREASING DEMAND FOR APPOINTMENTS. PATIENTS ARE OFFERED THE OPTION OF IN-PERSON VISITS ALONG WITH CONTINUED EFFORTS TO REACH PATIENTS VIA TELEHEALTH VISITS. CCHC CONTINUES TO COLLABORATE WITH SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES AND OUTREACH PROGRAMS. ONE HUGELY SUCCESSFUL PROGRAM HAS BEEN OUR COLLABORATION WITH HAZLETON INTEGRATION PROJECT (HIP) HOLDING BLOOD PRESSURE SCREENINGS. THROUGH THESE SCREENINGS, INDIVIDUALS IDENTIFIED WITH HYPERTENSION (HTN) HAVE BEEN ESTABLISHED WITH PRIMARY CARE AT OUR HAZLETON CLINIC. IN ADDITION, CCHC IS ALIGNING WITH THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION (AMA) TO HEIGHTEN AWARENESS AND TREATMENT OF HTN, FOLLOWING A PROGRAM OF IDENTIFYING PATIENTS, PROVIDING TREATMENT ACCORDING TO THE STANDARD OF CARE, HAVING FREQUENT TOUCH BASES WITH PATIENTS, INCLUDING ONSITE BP CHECKS, AND ULTIMATELY PROVIDING PATIENT EDUCATION THAT INCLUDES HOME-MONITORING. UNCOMPENSATED CARE CHARITY CARE THE PRIMARY CONCERN OF CCHC IS THE DELIVERY OF HEALTHCARE TO ALL CITIZENS OF NORTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA REGARDLESS OF THEIR ABILITY TO PAY. CCHC OFFERS A SLIDING FEE DISCOUNT PROGRAM FOR PATIENTS WHO MEET CERTAIN CRITERIA UNDER ITS SLIDING FEE SCALE POLICY. THE SLIDING FEES ARE AMOUNTS LESS THAN ESTABLISHED RATES. THE UNREIMBURSED COST OF CHARITY CARE REPRESENTS THE COST CCHC INCURS BY PROVIDING FREE OR DISCOUNTED SERVICES TO THOSE WHO CANNOT AFFORD TO PAY. THE COST OF THE CHARITY CARE WAS $290,888 DURING THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2024. MEDICARE/MEDICAID/OTHER GOVERNMENTAL IN RECOGNIZING ITS MISSION TO THE COMMUNITY, CCHC PROVIDES SERVICES TO THE ELDERLY (MEDICARE) AND THE INDIGENT (MEDICAID). CCHC PROVIDES CARE BELOW COST TO PERSONS COVERED BY THESE GOVERNMENTAL PROGRAMS. TO THE EXTENT THE GOVERNMENT REIMBURSEMENT IS BELOW THE COST OF PROVIDING HEALTH CARE, CCHC IS FURTHERING ITS CHARITABLE MISSION. THE UNREIMBURSED VALUE OF MEDICARE, MEDICAID, AND OTHER GOVERNMENTAL PAYERS IS EQUAL TO THE COST OF PROVIDING SERVICES LESS THE AMOUNT RECEIVED AS REIMBURSEMENT UNDER THE PROGRAM. THE UNREIMBURSED COST OF PROVIDING CARE TO THESE PATIENTS WAS $5,896,753 DURING THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2024. COMMUNITY SERVICE SUMMARY MEDICARE/MEDICAID/OTHER GOVERNMENTAL $ 6,680,412 CHARITY CARE $ 444,457 TOTAL $ 7,124,869