2 Michigan health centers surprised to receive federal stimulus funds

Ingham and Wayne counties receive stimulus money for community health care

LANSING — Local health officials were caught off guard Monday when the White House announced that $2.6 million in federal stimulus funding would be coming their way, perhaps as early as today.

According to the White House announcement released Monday afternoon, the federal health officials approved the $2.6 million in the form of Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) grants for clinics in Ingham and Wayne counties. Each will receive $1.3 million to fund clinic operations and outreach work with “medically underserved residents,” the release said.

When asked if the Ingham County Health Department (ICHD) had expected this money, Jaeson Fournier, the department’s deputy health officer, paused briefly before responding, “No.”

Officials at the county department learned of the HHS-approved grants Monday afternoon when Michigan Messenger called to inquire about what the funds would be used for.

“I can’t tell from this which they funded, or if it’s something else altogether,” said Marcus Cheatham, ICHD’s public information officer. “You’ve got us digging for that detail now.”

The White House said the money will create 105 new jobs and provide medical service for more than 13,000 Michigan residents. The stimulus money will be added to the $13.3 million that Ingham County already spends on community health care.

Cheatham later e-mailed to say the department believed that the money would go toward funding a grant request from 2007 that had been turned down by federal officials because of a lack of funding.

According to the HHS, the grant requests from Ingham County and Western Wayne Family Health Centers scored high during an earlier vetting process, so they were among those selected to be funded this time around.

Asked about the unexpected federal announcement, Cheatham responded via e-mail: “Well, the current situation in the country is not normal. It is normal to hear that you’ve been approved for something before you get the Notice of Grant Award with the details. It is also normal for an award to be different from exactly what you asked for. So we aren’t 100% sure what we are getting yet.”

Coincidentally, the news of the unanticipated funding announcement came the same day that ICHD officials were working on a different federal grant request.

In Ingham County, the grant is likely to result in increased clinic staffing in four locations, including the department’s flagship operation on South Cedar Street in Lansing. Other locations include a pediatric site and a dental clinic on the city’s south side and another clinic on the city’s west side, Fournier said.

Among the new positions the money will fund are a substance abuse counselor and two mental health posts. Fournier said both services were sorely lacking in the state’s capital and Ingham County as a whole.

“Our primary care doctors are struggling with mental health services,” he said. “Having support for that care is very important. This provides that.”

The other grant recipient, Western Wayne Family Health Centers, plans a new satellite site in Taylor that, when fully operational, will provide primary care and mental health services for more than 7,000 people, including 4,000 young mothers with children on public assistance.

And while the spigot may be on and the money flowing, Fournier said it is going to take time to get everything functional at ICHD. The funds will create 17 new positions in the county, including dentists, doctors and nurses. But before the county can begin a search to fill those posts, it has to create job descriptions and get the money and positions approved by the the county’s board of commissioners. Fournier said he expects the county to be in full search mode by July, but expects some posts, like the dental position, to take longer to fill than others.

“Recruiting dentists is very difficult,” he said. “There is a large demand for them and not enough to go around.”

Ingham County commissioners who sit on the Health and Human Services Committee, which oversees the health department, were cautiously optimistic about the announcement when asked about it at a committee meeting Monday night.

“We have to wait and see what kind of strings” are attached, said committee chairman Todd Tennis, referring to any federal stipulations that come with the funding. “It’s great news, but what impact it will have [on the health department budget] I don’t know.”

The county has cut nearly $8 million from its budget over the last two years and is trying to figure out how to cut more this year. Health care funding receives very little money from the general fund, officials said.

“We will use this wisely,” Tennis vowed. “We won’t be creating anything new.”