Cheney clinic gets fed money

Plans for a community health clinic in Cheney serving low-income West Plains residents are back on track, thanks to a second round of federal funding.

Officials at Community Health Association of Spokane — CHAS — were notified Tuesday morning that they were one of seven health care providers in Washington to receive funding from the Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Health Center Program. According to a news release, CHAS will receive $358,333 from the federal program, enabling it to open a health clinic in Cheney that could potentially serve 8,700 individuals on the West Plains who lack adequate means to pay for health services.

“I anticipate there’s a number of residents in Cheney who aren’t receiving any primary care at all,” CHAS chief executive officer Aaron Wilson said. “It’s (federal funding) a huge win for them.”

CHAS originally planned to open its 11th clinic in the Inland Northwest in the 16,020 square foot former location of Jarms Ace Hardware on First Street sometime this fall, but was bypassed in first round funding awarded in May. Wilson said they are re-engaging with local real estate agents on facility options, hoping to secure those as soon as possible and proceed with the clinic that will eventually provide medical, dental and behavioral services.

CHAS’s vice president of behavioral health, Mike Wiser, said the immediate goal is to get primary medical care up and running in Cheney.

“We have 120 days from today to open with some primary care services, but it will take longer to fully implement the plan with dental, pharmacy, etc.,” Wiser wrote in an email.

All total, Washington received seven awards amounting to $4,766,618 that is anticipated to serve 22,762 new patients. In the first round of funding in May, the state received just two awards totaling $1,030,493 and serving 13,375 new patients.

The second round of HHS funding, available through the federal Affordable Care Act, amounts to $169 million, and will provide health care to over 1.2 million patients at 266 new clinics in 46 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.