SAN ANGELO, Texas —
Two West Texas health centers, La Esperanza Clinics in San Angelo and Frontera Healthcare Network in Eden, have received a combined nearly $1.5 million in coronavirus relief funds from the Department of Health and Human Services.
Both are federally qualified health centers, otherwise known as community health centers. This means they are partially funded through grants from the federal government, which is why they both qualified for this relief fund.
"Our purpose is to help the underserved patients, low-income, medicare and Medicaid, private insurance and self-pay. For the most part, we try not to turn people away for inability to pay. The grant itself is absolutely necessary, and I think everybody understands that we need to keep our doors open, we need to keep our existing staff," Dean Munn, La Esperanza Clinics CEO, said.
According to Munn, money from the grant is meant to be spent on any supplies relating to COVID-19: such as personal protective equipment like gloves, gowns and masks. The money is also meant to help the clinics recover from the loss of patient revenue.
"It is the worst time in the world to have lay-offs or furloughs. So the grant, in part, is to make sure we maintain staff, hire staff if we need to, and it's also to help with the financial shortfall. We're not taking walk-ins, we're only seeing patients with the greatest needs," Munn said.
La Esperanza Clinics saw more than 10,000 patients in 2019, according to Munn.
"That’s the expectation, and this will put a damper on that. We don’t have the numbers in, but I know April’s going to be pretty brutal. We’re going to have a deficit, that’s for sure," Munn said.
Both healthcare centers are required to submit planned budgets, as well as provide semi-annual reporting specific to this funding, according to Munn.
Executive director of Frontera Healthcare Network, Cam Kleibrink, reiterated Munn's statements, saying said funds will be used to keep the clinic's doors open and nurses staffed, as well as to provide PPE (personal protective equipment) to staff.