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Community health centers see funding hurt
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As the economic downturn persists, people are increasingly turning to community health centers for inexpensive medical services. But now, the centers themselves are ailing.
Community health centers rely heavily on private and foundation funding, said Tara McCollum Plese, spokeswoman for the Arizona Association of Community Health Centers.
Since foundation funds derive from stock-investment revenue, she said, Wall Street troubles translate to less charity cash.
"The pie has gotten smaller and the demand for pieces of that pie is growing," Plese said.
And with the downturn front and center in most people's minds these days, small donors might be more inclined to contribute to big name social service charities like the Salvation Army or other food banks while health centers could be left, said Mark Hager, an Arizona State University nonprofit studies professor.
"There's not much good news in terms of resources," Hager said. "(All nonprofits are) expected to see considerable declines now and for the foreseeable future."
Community health centers provide free or reduced cost health care to those who are uninsured - 20 percent of Arizonans, according to health research organization, the Kaiser Family Foundation - and those who can't afford conventional care.
"We're seeing an alarming rise in demand for health services," Plese said. "A lot of our members are worried that we're not going to have the capacity to meet those needs."
Most revenue clinics take in comes from treating patients, she added, and some clinics get federal and state backing.
Clinics that get government support also attribute about 15 percent of their income to funding from private donors and foundations, Plese said, and others that don't get federal or state money attribute an even higher percentage of their funding to private sources.
The BHHS Legacy Foundation, a charitable health organization that serves Arizona and the Southwest, has seen 20 to 30 percent decline in revenue this year making it harder to fund as many ventures, CEO Gerald Wissink said.
He said some funding cutbacks will have to be made, but added, "We're going to do our best to minimize that impact."
In 2007, the foundation was one of the largest single donors to Mountain Park Health Center, which has four locations in Phoenix and one on Mill Avenue in Tempe.
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