Senator Charles E. Schumer

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 20, 2012

SCHUMER ANNOUNCES $441,667 FEDERAL GRANT FOR OAK ORCHARD COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER TO OPEN NEW CLINIC IN WYOMING COUNTY

Schumer Pushed Department of Health and Human Services to Allocate Grant Money to Create The New Clinic In Warsaw, NY That Will Serve Over 4,000 Residents

Schumer Successfully Secures Grant That Will Fund Creation of Federally Qualified Health Center in Wyoming County to Provide Primary and Dental Care Replacing Inadequate Mobile Clinic

Schumer: This Is A Huge Win for Wyoming County Residents

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today announced a $441,667 Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) grant that will fund the creation of a federally qualified health center in Warsaw, NY. The Oak Orchard Community Health Center (OOCHC) already operates two clinics in Orleans County and one in Monroe county. This clinic will provide primary and dental care to over 4,000 residents in Wyoming County.

“This is a huge win for Wyoming county residents that will now have a permanent space for a federally qualified health center,” said Schumer. “Residents of Wyoming county have long needed this permanent center and I applaud the Department of Health and Human Services for stepping up to the plate and providing funding to create it. Now, more than 4,000 residents that need health care will have a permanent place to receive the care they need.”

Schumer’s push will improve primary and dental care for 4,000 Wyoming County residents in dire need of improved health care. With its main office in the Village of Brockport, Oak Orchard Community Health Center was established in 1973 to provide primary care services to residents in four rural counties in western New York. Residents in Wyoming County suffer from high rates of diabetes, adult obesity, births with cigarette use, high blood pressure, and mortality from heart disease. To combat these threats, OOCHC operates three health care facilities, two medical offices, a mobile health unit to serve migrants, and a mobile dental unit to serve schools in underserved districts. With additional support, OOCHC will be able to address these health disparities by replacing a former inadequate mobile clinic with a permanent satellite clinic in Wyoming County that provides primary health services to the uninsured, underinsured, migrant farm workers, and the publicly insured.

David Fisher, President and CEO of Oak Orchard Community Health Center said, “Oak Orchard and community leaders were unanimous in their concern for the continuing loss of primary care services in the Warsaw area. There was equally strong conviction that the presence of a Federally Qualified Health Center, like Oak Orchard, was essential to address the health status of a large segment of the community. This award, which will establish a new primary care site for Oak Orchard in Warsaw, responds directly to both concerns and is cause for great celebration.”

This grant was one of many awarded to community health center across the country today by HHS Secretary Kathleen Seblius. The grants awarded to 20 New York health centers totaled 10.5 million. A total of $128.6 million was awarded across the United States in the form of 219 awards. New York received the second largest number of awards in the country. These grants will help expand access to care for more than 1.25 million additional patients and create approximately 5,640 jobs by establishing new health center service delivery sites. Community health centers work to improve the health of the nation by ensuring access to quality primary health care services.

In New York, Community health centers provide high quality, affordable and accessible primary medical, dental and preventive care to more than 1.4 million New Yorkers at over 470 sites in urban, suburban and rural settings.

According to the Community Health Care Association of New York State, this funding opportunity is historic in its significance as it represents an unprecedented investment by the federal government in FQHCs and has the potential to expand New York State’s primary care system as never before, bringing essential new services to some of the highest-need areas. The awards announced today will infuse critical dollars into New York's health centers and their surrounding communities, enhancing health centers’ ability to serve more patients and creating thousands of jobs across the country.

Recent increased funding for America’s community health centers began with a $2 billion investment in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. In 2010, the Affordable Care Act included $11 billion in funding for community health centers. The two laws combined will help America’s community health centers to serve nearly twice as many patients as before. The newly awarded funds will support renovation and construction projects and boost the centers’ ability to care for additional patients and while creating jobs in those communities. Community health centers are an integral source of local employment and economic growth in many underserved and low-income communities. In 2010, they employed more than 131,000 staff and new funds made available today will help create thousands of jobs nationwide.

In addition to providing essential health care, community health centers also provide high-quality jobs in communities nationwide. In 2010, they employed more than 131,000 staff including 9,600 physicians, 6,400 nurse practitioners, physicians’ assistants, and certified nurse midwives, 11,400 nurses, 9,500 dental staff, 4,200 behavioral health staff, and more than 12,000 case managers and health education, outreach, and transportation staff. Since the beginning of 2009, health centers have added more than 18,600 new full-time positions in many of the nation’s most economically distressed communities. The funding awards announced today will infuse critical dollars into health centers and their surrounding communities, enhancing health centers’ ability to serve more patients and creating thousands of jobs across the country.

A copy of Schumer’s letter is below:

November 15, 2010

The Honorable Kathleen Sebelius

Secretary

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

200 Independence Avenue, SW

Washington, DC 20201

Dear Secretary,

I am pleased to write in support of the application submitted by Oak Orchard Community Health Center for funding under the Health Resources and Services Administration’s New Access Point Program. Such funding will enable Oak Orchard Community Health Center to establish a satellite site that will provide comprehensive primary health services to the underserved residents of Wyoming County.

Located in the Village of Brockport, Oak Orchard Community Health Center (OOCHC) was established in 1973 to provide primary care services to residents in four rural counties in western New York. Residents in Wyoming County suffer from high rates of diabetes, adult obesity, births with cigarette use, high blood pressure, and mortality from heart disease. To combat these threats, OOCHC operates three health care facilities, two medical offices, a mobile health unit to serve migrants, and a mobile dental unit to serve schools in underserved districts. With additional support, OOCHC will be able to address these health disparities by creating a satellite clinic in Wyoming County that provides primary health services to the uninsured, underinsured, migrant farm workers, and the publicly insured.

With funding, Oak Orchard Community Health Center will establish a satellite site that will provide family medicine, pediatrics, general dentistry, nutrition counseling, family planning, prenatal case management, and migrant farmer worker outreach and education services to over 4,000 patients annually, in communities where there is a severe lack of access to health care. I applaud Oak Orchard Community Health Center for its foresight, and I hope that the application meets with your approval.

Thank you for your consideration. For additional information, please do not hesitate to contact me or my Grants Director, Grant Kerr, in my Washington office at 202.224.6542.

Sincerely,

Charles E. Schumer

United States Senator

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