Davis on-again, off-again grant is on again

FARMINGTON — The Davis County Health Department learned this week that it has received a $525,000 federal grant in conjunction with Midtown Community Health Center, in Ogden, to open the county's first community health center, in Farmington.

Two other health centers, the Wasatch Homeless Health Care/Fourth Street Clinic in Salt Lake City, and the Mountainlands Community Health Center in Provo, also received federal grants to expand their medical capacity.

The community health-center program is funded through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and is specifically designed to help people who are uninsured or underinsured get the primary medical care they need. It's a one-stop shop for the family doctor, dentist, social worker and mental-health-care provider.

According to the Health and Human Services department's Web site, $125 million in grants, which take effect July 1, will help nearly 900,000 Americans.

Davis health officials originally had expected a $650,000 grant to open the center, which was to have had an operating budget of $1.5 million, but the grant funding came in $125,000 shy of that. Lisa Nichols, Midtown's executive director, said she plans to pursue other funding sources, such as grants, to make up for the smaller grant.

In the meantime, the center can still open, she said. It just may not immediately provide the full range of services.

Lewis Garrett, the county's health department director, told county commissioners May 22 that his department had been doing "back flips" over the good news about receiving a grant award — after three years of trying for the grant.

But by Friday, Garrett was feeling sick when he learned that the congratulatory letter that Midtown received on his behalf didn't refer to the Davis Community Health Center but rather to another grant for which Midtown had already received the money.

Jubilation returned for Garrett and his department after they received word this week about the grant for the Davis clinic. He is now preparing to coordinate the community health center's inception.

Within the next 120 days, the center must be open for business. The Davis Community Health Center will be Midtown's satellite office and may eventually serve about 4,300 Davis County residents.

About 1,000 of Midtown's current patients are from Davis County, Nichols said. She said she expects the Davis center to alleviate some of the burden on Midtown, which turns away 20 people a day.