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HomeNewsMatthew Walker Comprehensive Health Center to expand Clarksville Clinic Services

Matthew Walker Comprehensive Health Center to expand Clarksville Clinic Services

Matthew Walker Comprehensive Health Center, Inc.
Matthew Walker Comprehensive Health Center, Inc.

With the receipt of targeted stimulus funding, Matthew Walker’s Clarksville Clinic will increase staff, care offerings and hours. American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding allows for expansion of medical care services available at the local clinic which serves four counties. Community outreach programs may grow as well.

(Nashville, TN)  Matthew Walker Comprehensive Health Center (MWCHC) was recently awarded $711,163 through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (AARA) of 2009 by the U.S. Department of Health Services and Resources Administration (HRSA).  This AARA funding is a mechanism of the Obama Administration’s unprecedented effort to jumpstart the economy, create or save millions of jobs, and put a down payment on addressing long-neglected challenges so the country can thrive in the 21st century.

MWCHC’s ability to respond to demands for increased services would have been complicated without AARA funding. Utilizing AARA funding,  MWCHC will hire staff for positions that were previously deemed to be held frozen for the next budget year due to monetary restrictions. The funds will also be used to hire new staff for expanded hours and services. MWCHC will add 18 hours per week of primary care services at the Clarksville, Tennessee clinic, which also serves the Robertson, Cheatham and Houston contiguous rural counties. This will be done through expanding clinic hours until 8:30 p.m. Monday – Thursday and 9:00 – 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. Prenatal care services will be implemented to address the lack of available services for uninsured prenatal women. Behavioral health services will also be expanded.

“During this poor economic situation, community health centers in Tennessee and across the nation will be called to answer the increased demand for services.”, says Jeffrey McKissack, Chief Executive Officer of MWCHC. “Thankfully, through the AARA funding individuals and families who are facing a loss in health insurance coverage, rising health care costs and shrinking budgets will still have access to quality medical and dental care”.

In 2008, MWCHC served over 28,000 patients, of which over 23,000 had no health insurance.  The health center has seen a recent spike in users and visits for 2008. MWCHC served an additional  7,000 new patients of which, 85 percent were uninsured.  The AARA funding will help address an expected increase as more families face the loss of health care coverage.

About the Matthew Walker Comprehensive Health Center

Since 1968, Matthew Walker Comprehensive Health Center has served the under-insured and uninsured families of Middle Tennessee.  MWCHC provides a comprehensive primary care model of services including  pediatrics, family medicine , internal medicine, dental care, pharmacy, telemedicine, health education, counseling and specialty care including obstetrics and gynecology, ophthalmology and podiatry.  MWCHC has four locations:  1035 14th Avenue North, 37208, Mental Health Cooperative Main Site, Pearl Cohn Magnet High School and 230 Dover Road, Clarksville, TN. a  For more information call Cathy Hunt at 615-340-1292 or visit the website at www.mwchc.org.

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