By Brandi Watters, Herald Bulletin Staff Writer
ANDERSON — A center that has served the county’s neediest population for the past decade will triple its size starting in March.
The Madison County Community Health Center will break ground March 1 on an expansion that promises to add 20,300 square feet to the center’s existing 7,500 square feet.
Tony Malone, president and CEO of the facility, said a $3.5 million grant from the Indiana State Department of Health will enable the long-overdue expansion.
The center at 1547 Ohio Ave. has consistently grown over the years and saw over 20,000 visitors in 2008, Malone said.
The expansion will add over 17,000 square feet in medical space including 25 exam rooms, 12 dental stations, two optical exam stations and six social services stations. Another 2,400 square feet will be added for an educational facility that will enable the center to host educational programs that can accommodate 150 participants.
The total cost of the expansion is over $5 million, Malone said, so alternative funding sources will need to be found soon.
Rather than wait for the whole $5 million, the project is moving forward. “We will not slow the process down. It is our hope to be able to go into this project without any debt but we will be looking at debt financing in case we do not generate the dollars,” Malone said.
A growing need
Malone said the center exists to serve the uninsured and under-insured of Madison County.
Over 90 percent of all patients at the clinic are at 100 or 200 percent of the poverty level.
Of the nearly 8,000 individual patients seen at the center in 2008, he said, 47 percent had no insurance. Another 35 percent were on Medicaid and 7 percent had Medicare insurance.
Only 6 percent of patients use commercial insurance at the center, he said, and most of them are the staff who work at the center.
Staff members and half of all board members are required to use the medical center by federal mandate, Malone explained.
The numbers of those without any type of insurance are increasing, Malone said. “You’re getting more patients unable to pay for their health care today.”
The recession has done little to help. “That’s without a doubt. We’re seeing the numbers increase now each day. The exam rooms are just filing up. You have patients coming with more complicated issues. You’re having so many people now that are impacted by this economy. When you lose your job, the first thing you lose is your health care. People don’t stop being sick.”
Malone said the fastest growing group of uninsured is 23- to 35-year-olds.
Kim Rayford of the Anderson Community Development office helped the city secure the center’s original property from the Anderson Fur Co. and said the small center that started in 1999 had bloomed. “They are really in need of an expansion because it’s just grown by leaps and bounds.”
Those who need care but do not have the means to pay for it are offered several options at the center, Malone said.
Rather than paying for the entire cost of services, he said, a low-income patient might be charged on a 10 percent payment schedule with a minimum payment of $25.
The desperately poor who cannot afford $25 are often not charged at all, he said.
“It’s nice to have a place where adults can be treated for their health care issues on a sliding scale basis,” said Dr. Bill VanNess of Community Hospital.
Malone said the center lessens the burden of area hospitals by providing preventative care for the uninsured. “Our goal is to keep people out of the hospital. Our goal is to keep people out of the emergency room because that’s your highest level of cost.”
Malone said the expansion will add another 20 to 22 jobs, bringing the total staff at the facility to 62.
Meeting the need
The Madison County Community Health Center, 1547 Ohio Ave. in Anderson, saw more than 20,000 visitors last year, including many return patients.
Total visits: 20,458
Individual patients seen: 7,916
Growing to meet the need
The Madison County Community Health Center will nearly triple in size.
Existing size: 7,500 square feet
Addition: 20,300 square feet
Total projected building size: 27,800 square feet
Current doctors, nurses, dentists: 40
Projected staff: 62
Contact reporter Brandi Watters at 640-4847 and brandi.watters@heraldbulletin.com.
