Section 330 funds are administered
through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA),
Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC). You may call 1-877-HRSA-123
to request a full application. You may also contact Kathy McLendon
at TPCA for technical assistance at 615/329-3836 or mclendon@tnpca.org.
The following web site links
provide further detail to these programs.
Policy
Information Notice 2005-01: Requirements of Fiscal year 2005
Funding Opportunity for Health Center New Access Point Grant Applications
(http://www.bphc.hrsa.gov/pinspals/pins.htm).
Policy Information Notice
(PIN) 98-23: Health Center Program Expectations (http://www.bphc.hrsa.gov/pinspals/default.htm#2003PIN)
www.bphc.hrsa.gov/dpspnewcenters
- An interactive website to to determine eligibility and improve
readiness for funding
FQHC Look-Alike
An
FQHC Look-Alike meets all the requirements of the Section 330 grant
program, but does not receive the grant. The FQHC Look-Alike receives
no section 330 Federal funding, but is eligible for cost-based reimbursement
under Medicaid and Medicare and can participate in the 340(b) Federal
Drug Pricing program. The guidelines and application package for
FQHC Look-Alike designation and recertification are found in Policy
Information Notice (PIN) 2003-21 (http://www.bphc.hrsa.gov/pinspals/pinsarchive.htm):
Federally Qualified Health Center Look-Alike Guidelines and Application
and PIN 2005-17: Revisions to Policy Information Nontice 2003-21
(http://www.bphc.hrsa.gov/pinspals/pins/2005-17.htm).
Applicants for FQHC Look-Alike designation must be fully operational
at application date and meet the following requirements:
1. Be a public or a private nonprofit entity;
2. Serve, in whole or in part, a designated Medically Underserved
Area (MUA) or Medically Underserved Population (MUP);
3. Meet the statutory, regulatory and policy requirements for grantees
supported under section 330 (formerly 329, 330 and 340) of Public
Health Service Act; and
4. Comply with the policy implementation documents for the Balanced
Budget Act (BBA) of 1997 amendment which added the requirement that
an FQHC Look-Alike entity may not be owned, controlled or operated
by another entity.
National Health Service
Corps provider site
Another way to increase access to primary health care in underserved
areas is to recruit a National Health Service Corps (NHSC) provider
to your community. Some of the clinicians the NHSC recruits are
obligated to serve in community-based systems of care in return
for scholarship or loan repayment support. Many NHSC clinicians
remain in underserved communities after fulfilling their NHSC service
commitments.
Your health center must be
in a designated Health Professional Shortage Area in order for a
NHSC provider to work at your center. See the following link to
find out if your community is in a HPSA - www.bphc.hrsa.gov/shortage
or call Patrick Lipford, Director, Office of Rural Health and Health
Access, Tennessee Department of Health, 615-741-0388, plipford@state.tn.us
To learn more call NHSC at
1-800-221-9393 or visit http://nhsc.bhpr.hrsa.gov.
Rural Health Clinic
The Rural Health Clinic (RHC) program is to encourage and stabilize
the provision of out-patient primary care in underserved rural areas
through the use of physicians, physician assistants (PAs), Nurse Practitioners
(NPs) and Certified Nurse Midwives (CNMs).
Rural Health Clinics:
The community development
initiatives of the Tennessee Primary Care Association focus on strengthening
existing community health centers and expanding services to underserved
areas. Our work with communities promotes expanding comprehensive
and preventive health care and improving the health status of underserved
populations. We help to strengthen the existing network of community
health centers by providing networking opportunities (Administrator
meetings) on pertinent topics, providing timely information, and linking
communities with necessary resources.