Loss of grants made operating clinic unsustainable
The University of Nebraska Medical Center plans to close its Community Health Center at 5155 S. 36th St. on Dec. 1. About 3,000 patients annually receive services at the site. UNMC is actively working to help patients transition their care.
The financial costs of operating this clinic have become unsustainable. Additionally, a long-standing family planning grant that was administered principally at this site by the UNMC Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology was not renewed. Finally, the College of Nursing did not receive grant funding designed to support its continued presence at the clinic.
“UNMC is making a difficult choice to stretch limited funds in order to provide care to the patients in underserved areas,” said Carl Smith, M.D., professor and chairman of the UNMC OB/GYN department. “By merging this clinic into other UNMC clinic locations and encouraging women’s health patients to receive care at The Olson Center’s primary location, UNMC is striving to surmount budgetary challenges. UNMC will continue its collaborative relationship with other clinics to make sure no one falls through the gap.”
The OneWorld Community Health Center has agreed to cooperate with UNMC in transferring patients to its facility, Dr. Smith said.
UNMC is committed to improving the health and well-being of people in South Omaha, he said. UNMC will sustain its commitment in the following ways:
· UNMCfaculty provide supervision to the resident physicians enrolled in the UNMC Family Medicine Urban Underserved Residency Training Program. The residents provide care to underserved patients at OneWorld Community Health Center.
· School based health centers – UNMC Physicians is helping to plan, run and finance the school-based health centers now available at Indian Hill, Liberty and Spring Lake magnet elementary schools in south Omaha.
· Screenings, disease prevention and pipeline programs – Health screenings will continue including those provided by the UNMC Mobile Nursing Center van, the UNMC Eppley Cancer Center and various health fair and seasonal flu community screenings.
· UNMC’s College of Public Health will provide support through its Center for Reducing Health Disparities.
Through world-class research and patient care, UNMC generates breakthroughs that make life better for people throughout Nebraska and beyond. Its education programs train more health professionals than any other institution in the state. Learn more at unmc.edu.