October 21, By Mark Scheer Niagara Gazette (

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1 Page 1 of 3 October 21, 2010 New Community Health Center of Niagara earns high praise ( gazette.com/local/x /new-community-health- Center-of-Niagara-earns-high-praise) By Mark Scheer Niagara Gazette ( NIAGARA FALLS A Western New York congressional leader who supported controversial reforms to the nation s health care system visited a community clinic in Niagara Falls on Thursday, describing it as exactly the type of facility she hopes will continue to blossom across the country in the years ahead. U.S. Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-Fairport, was among a contingent of officials on hand to celebrate the opening of the Community Health Center of Niagara inside the former Mizer Primary Care Center on 10th Street near Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center. The facility is the first of its kind in Niagara County and provides primary medical services to individuals of all ages regardless of their ability to pay. It is also the type of community clinic that will benefit from an estimated $11 billion in federal funding over the next five years under the recently approved federal health care reform legislation. You are the front line, said Slaughter, an ardent supporter of the reform movement who took criticism for her stance in the run-up to the bill s passage earlier this year. We all know that you are the places where people can go and that you see the need and that the preventative care that you seek so diligently here begins with you. The 10th Street community health center grew out of partnership involving the city s hospital, the Community Center of Buffalo, Inc. and various local, state and federal agencies and funding organizations. Hospital officials announced last year plans to turn over operations at the Mizer building to the Community Center of Buffalo, allowing the nonprofit group to use the site as a satellite clinic offering family and internal medicine, pediatrics, dentistry, HIV testing and other medical services. The transition was touted as a way to expand primary care services for low-income and uninsured patients in the Falls area while allowing the Mizer location to become eligible for federal funding and enhanced reimbursement rates for services covered under Medicare and Medicaid. The move was made, in part, to help Memorial Medical Center deal with one of its larger fiscal problems a high volume of underinsured and uninsured patients who seek treatment during costly emergency room visits. The clinic opened for business on Sept.

2 Page 2 of 3 7 and has assisted roughly 650 patients since. In the process, the building s new operators retained 15 former hospital employees who worked at the Mizer building when it was under Memorial s control. Niagara Falls has very severe community health needs, said Sheila Kee, vice president and chief operating officer for the medical center. We have one of the highest death rates from heart disease of any community in the nation. We have one of the highest diabetes rates in New York state and our rate of emergency room utilization is the highest in Western New York. I am confident that the community health center in Niagara will make a difference here in Niagara Falls. The center will be a primary care home for hundreds of families in our community. It will provide the medical care and support services that our community needs to stay well and get well. There are now 1,250 such clinics in America and the number is expected to grow with support from the federal health care reform legislation. Slaughter said clinics like the one in the Falls represent a key aspect of the health care reform effort, saying community based sites can effectively deliver important preventative care to individuals who may not otherwise have access to such services. The whole intent of that health care bill is to keep people well from top to bottom, said Slaughter, who is facing a challenge from Republican Jill Rowland in this year s race for the 28th Congressional District seat. Health care reform supporters like Slaughter have been dogged by critics who believe the new system will prove costly for America s taxpayer. On Thursday, she suggested the health care changes will produce savings of $14 billion over the next decade. She also insisted that measures contained in the legislation will be fully funded moving forward. There s nothing in there not to like, she said. Slaughter said she s confident the reforms will do wonders to fix what ails America s health care system by making sure those who are in need get the treatment they deserve. I believe that health care is a human right, she said. I believe that with all my heart. Federally Qualified Health Centers focus on meeting basic health care needs in communities and are directed by boards with majority consumer membership. The centers provide treatment regardless of an individual s income or insurance coverage and individuals seeking services are eligible for higher levels of reimbursement as a result of the clinic s distinction as a qualified health center. According to the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC), such centers save the national health care system between $9.9 billion and $17.6 billion a year by helping patients avoid emergency rooms and making better use of preventive services. The development of the local health center was a project years in the making and grew out of a needs assessment commissioned by the hospital that found strong community support for additional primary and preventative care options in the Falls. The transition of the Mizer building from Memorial to the Community Health Center of Buffalo was covered under a $200,000 grant awarded to the project by the New York State Health Foundation. Dr. LaVonne Ansari, CEO and executive director of the Community Health Center of

3 Page 3 of 3 Buffalo, Inc., said her organization has received another $150,000 grant for the state and $160,000 in additional funds for HIV testing services. She said the Falls clinic started with humble beginning but she s expecting it to grow. I m looking forward to expansion, she said. I m looking forward to additional services. I m looking forward to collaborations and partnerships. One of those partnerships is the city of Niagara Falls which, through the mayor s task force for a healthier Niagara, is conducting a neighborhood outreach program aimed at promoting the use of preventative care services among residents. What we are trying to do is target individual neighborhoods to start and try to create a movement at the grassroots level to take advantage of the opportunities created by facilities like this, Mayor Paul Dyster said. Niagara Gazette 310 Niagara Street Niagara Falls, NY 14302

4 BuffaloNews New health center offers primary care By Richard E. Baldwin NEWS NIAGARA REPORTER October 22, 2010, NIAGARA FALLS A new health facility, focusing on preventing disease or at least diagnosing illness in its early stages, has opened in the city. The Community Health Center of Niagara, dedicated Thursday, is located in the former Mizer Primary Care Center at th St., near Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center. The center, a satellite location of the Community Health Center of Buffalo, is intended to provide primary medical services for people of all ages, regardless of their ability to pay. The services include family practice, internal medicine, pediatrics, gynecology, dentistry, women s health, psychotherapy, social work and rapid testing for HIV. Dr. Lavonne Ansari, president and chief executive officer of the Community Health Center of Buffalo, said the Niagara Falls satellite retained 15 health care jobs and created five new positions. Ansari said the opening of the center is a significant step in establishing a stronger health and wellness foundation for those in most need of primary care in Niagara Falls. We hope that patients will utilize the community health center as their first choice for medical care instead of visiting a hospital emergency room. The center, the first federally qualified health center in Niagara Falls, was established in collaboration with Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center and other community health care partners. Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center actively recruited the Community Health Center of Buffalo to extend operations to Niagara Falls because it clearly was in the best interests of the patients we serve, said Joseph A. Ruffolo, president and chief executive officer of the medical center. We care deply about the health of our community, especially the elderly, the infirm and those who are financially challenged, he said. We will be able to provide not only primary care, but dental care, social services support and other health and wellness services that patients look for in a true medical home. Kendra M. Harris, site director of the Community Health Center of Niagara, said: Having a medical home and establishing a relationship with a primary physician is important for early detection of life-threatening diseases. Our focus is to make an immediate and positive impact on the overall health and economic well-being of residents of Niagara Falls and Niagara County. Officials said the center would empower patients to take an active role in their health and wellness in an effort to prevent chronic disease such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes, which are leading causes of death and disability in the United States. The problem is that individuals without access to primary health care generally do not receive timely medical care to prevent the start of an illness or to manage a chronic condition, thereby increasing their risk of hospitalization and disabilities due to preventable illnesses.

5 The headquarters of the Community Health Center of Buffalo is located at Erie County Medical Center, 462 Grider St.