About one year ago, Heartland Community Health Clinic announced it would become a federally qualified health center, thanks to a $561,875 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. What does that mean? Plenty, according to Suneela Vegunta, medical director at Heartland Community Health Clinic. "Since we became a federal clinic, we can offer services to our patients 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We have expanded hours of clinic operation: we're open earlier than most clinics, and we have evening hours. We're also open Saturday mornings. We now serve a patient base of more than 4,000, compared to 800 before we received the federal designation."

Heartland received word about this important grant last August. "The grant was awarded to Heartland Community Health Clinic over many applicants," Vegunta said. "It's one of only four awarded in Illinois and 79 awarded nationwide during the grant cycle. The federal designation, in Congressman Ray LaHood's words, is a dream come true for Peoria. It happened because of many collaborative partnerships, which include all three area hospitals-especially OSF Saint Francis-the University of Illinois College of Medicine-Peoria, Advanced Medical Transport of Central Illinois, PCCHD, Heart of Illinois United Way, District 150, Children's Home, Fayette Companies, IPHCA, Neighborhood House, and many others. Dr. David Gorenz, the founder of Heartland Community Health Clinic, and Joan Krupa, Heartland's CEO, worked very hard to make this happen for Peoria. With all of their help, we submitted a 200-page application, and we were successful in achieving the grant."

The best part is the grant isn't a one-time gift. "The United States Department of Health and Human Services will give Heartland Clinic $561,875 annually for the next three years," she said. "After the three years, we'll most likely continue to get grant support if we meet our grant expectations. Basically, the grant money helps us cover some of the costs of providing care to the uninsured and underinsured patients."

Heartland Community Health Clinic was started 12 years ago to offer free medical care to the uninsured people of Peoria, she said. "It opened in 1991 at 600 N.E. Monroe in the former home of the late Bishop Edward W. O'Rourke, who was part of the task force that led to the clinic's formation."

Today, after more than a decade, Heartland's patient base is only increasing, which means the services they offer have to keep up. "Heartland Community Health Clinic serves a wide range of patients, primarily indigent patients," Vegunta said. "We see Medicaid, Medicare, uninsured, and private insurance patients in the clinic. We provide primary and preventive care services to patients of all age groups. We offer podiatry, neurology, Ob/Gyn-including antenatal care to pregnant women-family planning, counseling, dietary, diabetic teaching, asthma teaching, and case management services to our patients on site. We also have on-site radiology and lab services, and we have a mobile mammogram available once a month for our patients. The clinic also helps with financial assistance and medication assistance. We also work with many local community agencies to access services for our patients."

One of the valuable services the clinic offers to its patients is the 340b drug program, which is a federally sponsored drug program through which Heartland can offer deeply discounted prescription drugs to its patients. "We've contracted with a local pharmacy, Bogard Drugs, to dispense the medications," Vegunta said. "This program is being well used by our uninsured and Medicare patients, but all patients who come to the Heartland Community Health Clinic qualify for this drug program. Patients say their monthly medication costs have been more than halved with this program. The drug prices are even lower than what patients can get in Canada."
She said Heartland recruits board-certified doctors and nurse practitioners and a highly skilled and competent staff taking care of its patients. "We constantly strive to improve the quality of care provided to our patients. For example, we're one of the 27 centers chosen to participate in the Health Disparities Collaborative focusing on diabetes. With all the above services provided to patients, we're hoping to reduce the emergency room visits by patients and improve the health care status of our patients."

And when patients require more specialized care, Vegunta said they're referred to area specialists. "Most of the specialists accept Heartland patients, and our uninsured patients are usually charged a sliding scale fee, depending on their income status. Some specialists completely waive the fee."

Having been part of the larger medical community-both currently and in the past-Vegunta knows of which she speaks. "I used to work as a women's health care specialist with OSF and later transitioned to Heartland Community Health Clinic as its medical director. Currently, I'm also an assistant professor at the University of Illinois College of Medicine-Peoria, where I teach second- and third-year students, and I'm on the board of the Center for Prevention of Abuse."

She said even with the dedication of the Heartland medical providers and additional funding provided by the grant, it's always a financial challenge to meet the requirements of the clinic. "Our business plan calls for greater income generated from patient fees, but personal and corporate donations remain critical to keep the clinic solvent. Many of our previous volunteers continue to help us with day-to-day operations at Heartland, and we're very grateful for their assistance. We're also hoping to access more grant funding to help us in our mission."

The best part of working at Heartland, she said, is the gratification she receives from taking care of the neediest patients in Peoria. "I enjoy playing an integral role in putting together a health care system to address all of the various problems for a patient. In the future, I'd also like to see our clinic provide mental health services and dental services to our patients." TPW