MEDIA CONTACT:
STEVEN ENGELHARDT (314) 504-4029
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: THURSDAY 7.29.10

Clay Intervenes to Save Medicare/Medicaid Waiver for St. Louis Healthcare Centers
Acute Care Clinics Receive CMS Waiver/Extension Needed to Keep Serving the Most Vulnerable Patients

WASHINGTON, DC- Congressman Wm. Lacy Clay (D) Missouri today announced an extension of a federal demonstration project that will provide up to $25 million for local community health centers who provide care for the regions’ most vulnerable patients.  “I am very pleased to announce that the Center for Medicare& Medicaid Services has approved the extension of the State of Missouri’s “Gateway to Better Health” Demonstration Project.  The funding provided by this project represents almost 25% of the total budget for our vital community health centers," said the Congressman. “I want to thank U.S. Secretary of Health & Human Services Kathleen Sibelius and the staff of CMS for responding to our urgent efforts, which included the united support of the entire Missouri Congressional Delegation. Today’s decision means that thousands of the uninsured and chronically ill patients from low-income families will continue to receive the quality healthcare that they deserve.  Had we not been successful, local emergency rooms would have been overwhelmed with uninsured and underinsured patients.”

The extension of the Gateway to Better Health Demonstration Project until 2014 will provide vital federal funding to continue the Regional Health Commission's oversight of this program, in coordination with Grace Hill Neighborhood Health Centers, Myrtle Hilliard Davis Comprehensive Health Center, St. Louis ConnectCare and the St. Louis Integrated Healthcare network.

Alan O. Freeman, President and CEO of Grace Hill Neighborhood Health Centers, Inc., commented on the significant of the waiver.  “Grace Hill Neighborhood Health Centers is breathing a welcome sigh of relief!  Approval of the Gateway to Better Health waiver application helps us continue the level of services we deliver to the underserved and uninsured in the St. Louis region.  Denial of the application would have dealt a devastating blow to the health care safety net in our city."

The Gateway to Better Health project was launched in 2002 as a way to redirect Medicaid funding that previously went to the now-closed St. Louis Regional Hospital.

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