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Mary Bufwack, United Neighborhood Health Service

When a small network of nonprofit health clinics finds itself $1,429,506 richer, "it's sort of staggering," said Mary Bufwack, CEO of United Neighborhood Health Services.

The recent recipient of two pots of money from the Obama administration economic stimulus, United Neighborhood is working feverishly to establish three new clinics in low-income Nashville neighborhoods. The funds are administered through the Bureau of Primary Health Care, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. UNHS already operates six Nashville clinics, five school-based clinics, the Downtown Homeless Clinic, the Charlotte Avenue Youth Clinic, two mobile health units and a clinic in Hartsville.

The first round of good news arrived in early March, when United Neighborhood learned of a nearly $974,000 grant, which came about "by a very circuitous and interesting route," Bufwack said. The organization had submitted a funding request in December 2007, but the federal bureau didn't have enough money to fund every high-scoring application. "So they put us in a folder that said 'approved but unfunded.' So when this money became available, they had an easy way to get it out quickly, to fund applications that had already been sent through objective review and rated for capacity to do it and need," she explained. Another approved-but-unfunded application in rural West Tennessee also received money.

Then in late March, UNHS nabbed about $452,000 in Increased Demand for Service funding, determined by a formula related to the rising number of unemployed and uninsured individuals in areas of need.

Together, the two grants mean two years of operation for three new clinic sites. Requirements include 33,000 additional patient visits representing 7,000 new clients, plus the creation of 30 jobs.

"They've been very firm about expectations, and we will be submitting quarterly updates onto recovery.gov. They wanted transparency, and transparency they're going to have. That's very exciting, too. The level of accountability is quite high," Bufwack said.

The three new clinics must be operational by July 1. "So we have two large challenges ahead of us. One is hiring staff, and the other is actually solidifying the locations for those clinics," she explained.

Two clinics will be in the 37207 zip-code area. One will be along Dickerson Road, between a UNHS clinic in Madison and one near the Sam Levy Homes near downtown. Bufwack said this clinic will serve a 10-mile gap along Dickerson where there are no medical resources, yet where residents suffer high rates of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, premature births and low birth weights. The other 37207 location will be in the Whites Creek area. The third clinic is slated for the 37203 zip-code area in Edgehill, where residents face similar health challenges.

Bufwack said United Neighborhood fills a unique niche in Nashville's net of public health services. While offering care that oftentimes resembles that of more traditional health departments, a UNHS clinic is also the healthcare home of many of its patients. The result is healthier citizens who are contributors to the community and the workplace. "When we allow a lot of people to suffer poor health, we burden the social systems of our country with people who are prematurely disabled. Then we have to set up programs to respond to the fact that we have people who may be suffering disabilities earlier in life and spend more years disabled," she said. "We would be better off providing on the front end and having healthier citizens who can realize their full contribution to the society."

Tags:

community public health, healthcare stimulus, Mary Bufwack, UNHS, United Neighborhood Health Services

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