Health center to open in Dalton Community Center

Local News

Discussion

June 21, 2012

Health center to open in Dalton Community Center

Charles Oliver charlesoliver@daltoncitizen.com The Dalton Daily Citizen Thu Jun 21, 2012, 06:16 AM EDT

Residents of the east side of Dalton should have easier access to health care after a new medical center opens in the Dalton Community Center this summer.

“We hope to have it opened by mid July. We have definitely scheduled the dedication for Aug. 7,” said Northwest Georgia Healthcare Partnership (NGHP) Executive Director Nancy Kennedy. “We are planning to have a full day of activities, some free screenings and some stuff for kids. That’s still in the planning, so we don’t know exactly what is in the works.

NGHP will operate the center with Georgia Mountains Health, a Morganton-based agency that runs federal health centers in Fannin, Gilmer and Murray counties.

“We don’t even have the official name yet. But it will be called a health center, not a clinic,” Kennedy said. “People sometimes relate a clinic to episodic care, and this will be a permanent medical home for people, not just a walk-in clinic.”

Kennedy said officials haven’t decided yet on what hours the center will be open.

“We will probably be open, say, three days a week, and as the need expands, so will the hours,” she said.

Dalton officials began planning for a health center even before the community center opened earlier this year. The center was designed with clinic space that includes seven exam rooms.

“This will really complete the programs we hope to offer there, especially for kids,” said Dalton Mayor David Pennington. “In combination with WIC (the federal Women, Infants and Children) program, the education programs and the recreation programs there, we think this will give kids, especially those who live around the community center, a much better start in their lives.”

Dalton officials had hoped to get federal funding last year to open a federally qualified health clinic, which serves underserved populations. But Dalton was not one of the cities that qualified for a federal grant.

Kennedy said the project was able to move forward this year thanks to a combination of $250,000 in state funding and money the NGHP raised from private sources.

“The state budget allocated money to start up health centers in three counties, and we were fortunate to be one of them,” she said. “We believe that if we can get through the first year we can be self-sustaining.

She said the center will offer low-cost service to those who can show they have no insurance and prove low incomes. But she added the center will also accept Medicare, Medicaid and most insurance plans.

State Sen. Charlie Bethel, R-Dalton, said Dalton qualified because of the number of low-income and uninsured residents here.

“These clinics are designed to ultimately reduce the burden on taxpayers,” he said.

Bethel said the health center could help keep patients out of the local emergency room. And he said that by allowing those with chronic illnesses to get regular treatment it could keep them from developing more serious conditions.

“If they can manage their conditions, it could help, say, someone with diabetes from having to be admitted to a hospital for an amputation,” Bethel said.

Text Only

Local News

Search Results

Discussion

Health center to open in Dalton Community Center

Site Map

Contact Us