Pardee seeks status as Federally Qualified Health Center within Blue Ridge Health
Pardee UNC Health Care and Blue Ridge Health announced this week that Pardee is seeking subrecipient status within Blue Ridge Health’s designation as a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC).
Federally Qualified Health Centers are community-based health care providers that receive funds from the HRSA Health Center Program to provide primary care services in underserved areas, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration. They must meet a stringent set of requirements, including providing care on a sliding fee scale based on ability to pay and operating under a governing board that includes patients.
Federally Qualified Health Centers may be Community Health Centers, Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the homeless, and Health Centers for residents of public housing, according to HRSA.
The two organizations are pursuing an extension of their existing collaboration, allowing them to reduce gaps in care, create a more seamless delivery model, and improve patient outcomes, according to a news release from Pardee. Although the subrecipient model is not commonly used in North Carolina, HRSA intentionally created this model to foster collaboration among existing health partners–like Pardee and BRH–allowing each to remain their own separate entity, the release states.
“Blue Ridge Health and Pardee UNC Health Care have a history of working together to improve care for the patients we both serve and train the next generation of health care providers,” said Dr. Richard Hudspeth, CEO for Blue Ridge Health. “Through our partnership with MAHEC we created the first federally funded Teaching Health Center in NC. The Family Medicine residents we train to deliver babies and practice inpatient and outpatient medicine have already created a vibrant academic medicine program at Pardee.” BRH has retained the Family Medicine graduates in an effort to fill the physician shortage in rural Western North Carolina.
Pardee and Blue Ridge Health work collaboratively to provide inpatient pediatric services at Pardee through BRH-Rainbow Pediatrics and the Family Medicine Residency Program, according to the local hospital. Additionally, Pardee provides financial support to BRH, including physical space to support the Residency Program and an in-house BRH pharmacy. “It is with our community in mind that we are undertaking this unique collaboration,” adds Hudspeth.
“Pardee has long provided charity care that serves not only Blue Ridge Health patients but patients throughout WNC,” said Jay Kirby, President and CEO for Pardee UNC Health Care. “The data indicates that while improvements have been made under existing partnerships there is still a need for more intentional work. Our collaboration with Blue Ridge Health will compel us to continue to be the best that we can as individual health organizations while sharing our innovations for even greater benefit for our patients.”
Hudspeth notes that hospitals in WNC have frequently realized the benefits of collaborating with FQHCs adding that BRH will continue to collaborate with hospitals and healthcare organizations to create better opportunities. “Blue Ridge Health will be an invaluable resource to Pardee as they incorporate the benefits of an FQHC into their health care model,” said Hudspeth. “Just as we have with Pardee, BRH has maintained–and will continue to maintain–multiple partnerships with hospitals and healthcare organizations throughout WNC to create better opportunities for health. The work that has been done together already has improved care and saved lives. We look forward to seeing this work continue.”
This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: Pardee seeks status as Federally Qualified Health Center within Blue Ridge Health
