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16TH STREET COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER, INC.

Grant Name- ARRA - Capital Improvement Program Purpose - to address a series of unmet repairs, renovations, and equipment upgrades to enhance our ability to serve our patients. Goals ? Goal one is to renovate and repair to our three facilities including repaving parking lots, replacing heating and cooling systems, repairing roofs, replacing waiting room furniture and repairing elevators. Goal two is to upgrade various IT systems, such as file servers and wireless access points, and to improve communications through various teleconferencing improvements. Goal three is to purchase or upgrade needed medical equipment to improve the quality of care we can provide and to improve patient outcomes such as retinal cameras for our Diabetes Department, on-site laboratory equipment for real-time lab results, exam tables, scales, blood pressure equipment, etc. The last goal is to purchase non-medical equipment including two vehicles, a refrigerator for storing medical supplies, and computer laptops to enhance our ability to serve our patients. Importance of goals - As the economic situation has worsened, SSCHC has seen an increase in the number of uninsured patients requesting services, which has had a trickle down effect creating an additional burden on medical and supportive services. For example, the Social Service Assistant who handles all calls and walk-ins for the department is now processing 128 walk-ins per day with an additional 142 phone calls. SSCHC?s pharmacy and dental expenses are exceeding budget levels due to the increase in uninsured patients. As a result, upgrades, repairs, and equipment purchases have been delayed because our focus has been on patient services. Many of these repairs directly impact our effectiveness, efficiency, quality of care, and patient outcomes by strengthening our infrastructure. With CIP funds for example, we added a behavioral health office and remodeled three Social Worker offices at our Parkway site to increase the number of patients served and ensure a comfortable, private space for patients to receive care. Much of our equipment was past its useable life-span such as exam tables in our pediatric department. The table tops were in disrepair. The impact of the CIP funds on our ongoing operational budget was to complete projects that have lingered on our capital and equipment long-range ?wish-list?. Each budget cycle the agency attempts to meet the most pressing repair and equipment needs yet as our uninsured rate has increased along with our need to expand; maintenance and repair needs have not been met.

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