Cornerstone Care marks Nurse-Managed Health Clinic Week
A new national campaign has been launched to recognize the important work of healthcare centers like Cornerstone Care with offices throughout Washington, Greene and Fayette counties. Since 1978, Cornerstone Care has provided medical, dental, counseling and outreach services to communities in Southwestern Pennsylvania including for individuals on Medicaid, Medicare and for those without any insurance and cannot afford health care.
Cornerstone Care operates nine locations in the area including providing administrative services to the Primary Care Center of Mt Morris; a nurse-managed health clinic (NMHC) and affiliate of the Penn State School of Nursing.
There are 250 nurse-managed health clinics (NMHCs) in the U.S. which serve as crucial health care access points in areas where primary care physicians are in short supply. These health centers provide primary care, health promotion, and disease prevention services to patients least likely to receive ongoing health care. This population includes clients of all ages who are uninsured, underinsured, living in poverty, or members of racial and ethnic minority groups who lack access to primary care.
Nurse-managed health clinics also play an important role in health professions education. The majority are affiliated with schools and colleges of nursing and serve as clinical education and practice sites for health professions students and faculty.
In recognition of their work, the National Nursing Centers Consortium (NNCC) along with nurse practitioners and registered nurses from across the nation will converge on the nation’s capitol to celebrate National Nurse-Managed Health Clinic Week, Oct. 3-9.
An opening ceremony and news conference will take place Oct. 4 from 10 to 11 a.m. in the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C.
When President Obama signed health care reform into law in March 2010, it signaled the beginning of a new era for nurse-led health care – with the creation of a $50 million grant program to support innovative safety net providers like Cornerstone Care and the Primary Care Center of Mt Morris.
“National Nurse Managed Health Clinic Week celebrates the work of nurse-managed health clinics operating in the United States,” says Tine Hansen-Turton, chief executive officer of the NNCC. “It also highlights the need for policymakers to appropriate the $50 million to the new nurse-managed health clinic funding program.
“Nurses are ready, willing and able to step up and meet our country’s primary care needs. By authorizing new investment in nurse-managed health clinics, Congress has shown that he understands the ability of nurse practitioners to provide cost-effective primary care. Nurse-managed health clinics will use this funding to provide health care to patients who are most in need, and increase educational opportunities for the next generation of primary care providers.”
Hansen-Turton concluded.