Audio Included in Post. Audio©2009 WTLC/Radio One. Health Net Community Health Centers has received $10.426 million dollars in Federal Stimulus Money in an announcement made December 9th in Washington by President Barack Obama. Health Net President/CEO Booker Thomas talked about the grant and meeting the President on Afternoons with Amos.
Health Net’s grant was part of nearly $600 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) awards to support major construction and renovation projects at 85 community health centers nationwide and help networks of health centers adopt Electronic Health Records (EHR) and other Health Information Technology (HIT) systems. The awards are expected to not only create new job opportunities in construction and health care, but also help provide care for more than half a million additional patients in underserved communities.
President Obama also announced a new demonstration initiative to support the delivery of advanced primary care to Medicare beneficiaries through community health centers.
“Together, these three initiatives – funding for construction, technology and a medical home demonstration project – won’t just save more money, and create more jobs, they’ll give more people the peace of mind of knowing that health care will be there for them and their families when they need it,” said President Obama. “Ultimately, that’s what health reform is really about.”
