Collin County Health Care Advisory Board recommends $147,000 for non-profit agreements

by Bill Baumbach of The Collin County Observer

Thursday, the Collin County Health Care Advisory Board met to consider their recommendations for the "fee for service" (formerly "grant") health care agreements for fiscal 2010.

The board had received 8 applications. They approved all at at requested funding levels.

The recipients are:

The board also voted to keep $53,000 in reserve for additional applications from non-profit agencies.

Fiscal 2010 will be the first time the county has funded programs with the Samaritan Inn and with Children's Medical Center. Both agencies have applied for funding in past years, but their requests were not approved. The Samaritan Inn is Collin County's only homeless shelter. They plan to use the funding for co-pay, referrals and prescriptions for their clients to use at community clinics.

Children's Medical Center is a large non-profit hospital in Dallas. It has opened clinics in Collin County, and the county funds will be used to provide visits to poor, uninsured children in Collin County.

While the county's total outlay will not go up, most of the non-profit agencies that are recommended for funding will see a substantial increase from their 2009 funding since fewer agencies applied and were approved.

Noticeably absent from the list of applications are the Collin County Committee on Aging, which received $45,000 last year for its Meals on Wheels program. According to the Health Department's Michelle Patrick, the Committee on Aging missed the application deadline due to confusion caused by a turnover in personnel.

Also missing from the list of applications was the Plano Children's Medical Clinic. The Children's Clinic was the first non-profit to receive county grant funds in 2005. Last year it was granted $21,000 down dramatically from the $50,000 awarded to it in prior 2 years. This year, the clinic chose not to apply for an agreement, citing the burdensome restrictions and paperwork imposed on it by the county. In 2008, two other charitable clinics declined the county grant money, citing privacy concerns with the newly required paperwork.

The Bridge Breast Network, which received $37,500 last year also did not file an application. The reason for the omission was not clear.

The Commissioners Court will consider the board's recommendations when it makes the final awards later this month. The county had budgeted $200,000 for the program, and the advisory board is asking that the $53,000 not awarded be held in reserve and that the application process be re-opened so that the missing agencies would have another opportunity to file their request. The board was particularly concerned that the Meals on Wheels program not miss out on funding for 2010.

The Health Care Advisory Board is a volunteer, citizen advisory board; members serve without pay. Each County Commissioner and the County Judge appoint 2 citizens to serve a term on the board. The board can only make recommendations. The Commissioners Court will make the final decisions.

All awarded funding is dependent on county approval on each client or patient served. Funding is only allowed for clients who are county residents, US citizens, with incomes below 100% of the Federal Poverty Level.