The Southwest Community Health Center in St. George will take over the Cedar City Community Clinic in early March to accommodate the needs of the community as a full-time clinic.
The new center will allow patients to utilize all forms of insurances, will provide more services compared to the current clinic and will have a full-time staff rather than volunteers, said Nancy Neff, executive director of the St. George Southwest Community Health Center.
“After the assumption, the Cedar City clinic will function as a regular family practice rather than an emergency clinic,” Neff said.
The Cedar City Community Clinic works with student volunteers and has a nurse practitioner that visits regularly throughout the week and as such is only capable of treating emergency illnesses.
Acquisition of the clinic will mean that the new center will have a full time staff, capable of providing more services on a regular basis, Neff said.
“Instead of only being able to treat patients in an emergency, we would be like their family doctor service with their full medical records and could serve them for the rest of their lives,” Neff said.
Before the acquisition of the two clinics, there must be federal approval, said Cedar City Community Clinic Director Rita Osborn.
The Southwest Community Health Center’s main office hours are 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 am. to 5 p.m. Friday.
According to the center’s Web site, the Southwest Community Health Center was founded in 2002 and patients will not be turned away for inability to pay.
The Health Center accepts patients who are on Medicare, Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance, the Primary Care Network and other insurances.
“Once the Southwest Community Health Center assumes responsibility for the Cedar City Community patients will have the option of utilizing private insurance, Medicaid, and Medicare,” Osborn said.
The St. George Community Health Center also provides care for uninsured patients.
They charge families on an income basis and offer reduced rates on a sliding fee scale.
The board of the center has approved fees based on the Utah poverty level.
“The way the scale works, is that the board of the center has approved certain fees for percent of poverty,” Neff said.
Depending on the income of the patient and the Utah percent of poverty, the amount the patient pays for each visit varies. For those who are 100 percent or less, the patient pays $20 per visit.
For those who are 100 to 150 percent of poverty would pay $35. Those who are between 150-200 percent poverty would pay 55 and those above 200 percent poverty would pay the full fee of $70. This means that depending on the number of people in the family and amount of income, the charge per visit varies. For example, if a family of four with an income below $22,050 a year, they would pay $20 per visit.
If a family of four had an income between $22,050 and $32,975 the cost would be $35 per visit. Patients would need to have proof of income at the first visit to determine where on the sliding scale they fit in.
Information about the sliding scale fee can be found by contacting the Southwest Community Health Center.
Patients will also be able to access discounts for prescription medication through the Smith’s program, or the 340D federally run medication program.
“Because we are a federally qualified center, they have access to different federal medication programs,” Neff said.
Under this program, anyone who comes to the clinic and doesn’t have insurance and gets a prescription through the clinic can go to the Cedar City Smith’s Food & Drug store to retrieve their prescriptions for 50 to 60 percent less than what they would have had to pay at a standard pharmacy.
“The Smith’s in Cedar (City) has agreed to follow along with our clinic after the assumption,” Neff said.
The new clinic would provide a variety of services including pre-natal services, sexually transmitted disease checks, chronic illness management, discounted diagnostics tests, and family planning services.
“We are a full-service family practice,” Neff said. “We do everything any other family practice does.”
With the new clinic, patients will be able to get vouchers to get lab work done at a hospital for $50; information will then be sent back to the center where doctors will help to treat the illnesses, Neff said.
Southern Utah University suunews.com > News
Cedar City Community Clinic plans to expand services, hours of operation
Published: Sunday, January 3, 2010
Updated: Sunday, January 3, 2010
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