Preserve the future of quality health care for people with disabilities in Chautauqua County!

For more than 30 years, TRC Community Health Care has been committed to providing health care to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). Please support us on our journey to ensure that area residents with I/DD can continue to receive high-quality primary care and dental services locally!

BACKGROUND

More than 30 years ago, The Resource Center established TRC Community Health Center to guarantee that people with I/DD would have access to health care locally, without having to travel to Buffalo or other places to receive care. Our providers are committed to spending extra time with patients who have I/DD, in order to help the patients better understand the specifics of their health care condition and corresponding treatment.

Over the years, it became increasingly difficult to sustain the financial viability of the Health Center. As a safety-net provider, TRC Community Health Center is one of the few local providers that accept Medicaid. For care providers whose patient base is largely composed of people who receive Medicaid – and the corresponding low reimbursement rates that Medicaid pays to care providers – the only way to operate in a financially sustainable manner is to see a high number of patients per day. But doing so would reduce patient “face-time” with providers and nearly eliminate the opportunity for people with lower comprehension skills to become well-versed in their health condition.

We were unwilling to compromise patient care by shortening the time spent with patients, just to get more patients “through the door.” But providing time-intensive, high-quality care meant TRC Community Health Center was operating under constant financial strain.

So, how could we ensure that people with I/DD would continue to receive high-quality care, while at the same time have TRC Community Health Center operate in a financially sustainable way?

THE SOLUTION

The answer was to transfer operation of TRC Community Health Center from The Resource Center to another entity that is deeply committed to the care of people with I/DD. This past July, The Resource Center transferred operation of TRC Community Health Center to Community Inclusion, Inc., a Jamestown-based not-for-profit organization. Community Inclusion is committed to ensuring that no one goes without access to high-quality care, and that care is provided in a manner that ensures the peatient’s understanding and is respectful of their values and their own capacity to engage in care.

To preserve TRC Community Health Center’s long-term viability, Community Inclusion is in the process of attaining Federally Qualified Health Center Look-Alike (FQHC-LAL) status for the Health Center. FQHC-LAL status will enable the Health Center to receive cost-based reimbursement payments and to be in position to receive future grants to support its operations.

THE CHALLENGE

While the Health Center’s long-term prospects are excellent, in the short term it faces financial challenges. Until it achieves FQHC-LAL status, the Health Center must operate at lower reimbursement rates. In addition, the Health Center absorbed a variety of expenses during the transition in operations. Among the most critical at this time is a lapse in revenue until our providers are recognized as re-credentialed with the insurance companies. This is a lengthy process and has caused a delay in payments for some services provided. There also have been costs associated with disconnecting and reconnecting electronic systems, and the conversion and migration of electronic data from The Resource Center to Community Inclusion.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

TRC Community Health Center needs “bridge funding” to operate successfully until it is approved for FQHC-LAL status. Your support will get us through these challenging next few months. With your financial gift, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing you’re preserving and enhancing our long legacy of providing excellent, compassionate care to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

ONE MORE THING

Once FQHC-LAL status has been attained, we intend to develop TRC Community Health Center into a regional Center of Excellence for the provision of primary care and dental services to people with I/DD. We want to become a hallmark for how rural and isolated health centers can still develop an exceptional model of care. We will work with patients, families and support staff to identify barriers to comfort, care and understanding so we can exemplify what high-quality, fully integrated care can be.