Albany, NY – The US Department of Health and Human Services awarded Whitney M. Young, Jr. Health Center a three-year $4.8 million annual operating grant under Section 330 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. §254b).
Whitney Young Health is among the nearly 1,400 health centers nationwide that act as a medical home for some of their communities most vulnerable residents. Health centers like Whitney Young Health are required to serve a medically underserved population, provide appropriate and necessary services with fees adjusted on patients’ ability to pay, demonstrate sound clinical and financial management, and be governed by a consumer-dominated board of directors.
Through two medical and dental centers, three school-based health centers, school-based dental programs, two addictions programs, a mobile health unit, and numerous outreach programs, Whitney Young Health served 18,981 men, women and children last year. More than one-third of its patients (38%) live at or below the federal poverty level; about 19% do not have any health and/or dental insurance; and 59% rely on Medicaid. Nearly half (43%) of Whitney Young Health patients are children and adolescents. This spring, Whitney Young Health will be expanding with the opening of a new health center in Watervliet.
“The federal funding Whitney Young Health receives is crucial to our on-going operation in this community. However, it is just one piece of a diverse revenue stream,” says Whitney Young Health President and CEO David Shippee. “Like other not-for-profit health care organizations, we also rely on philanthropic support and earned income from third-party payers to support our mission to provide access to high quality health care regardless of a patient’s income.”
Funding from the Section 330 grant will constitute approximately 25% of anticipated revenue in 2016.