Southern Illinois Healthcare Foundation has 150 health care practitioners. SIHF has 34 community clinics. (Photo courtesy of SIHF Healthcare)

Lawmakers in Washington, D.C. may still be arguing over how – or if – to amend federal law to improve healthcare for Americans.

However, in Metro East, a non-profit organization is aggressively moving to make an expanded scope of healthcare services available in a region with some of the nation’s most serious public health problems.

The Sauget-based Southern Illinois Healthcare Foundation — one of the largest and fastest growing networks of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) in the country — officially changed its name on June 1 to SIHF Healthcare to better reflect its expanding role in area healthcare, according to Larry McCulley, president and CEO.

On March 20, the foundation opened its 34^th facility, $2.6 million Central Collinsville Health Center at 1215 Vandalia Ave.; utilizing a new clinic model that offers comprehensive care – including medical, behavioral health and dental services – all at one location.

The Collinsville facility also houses a new centralized health information technology hub to serve SIHF’s growing network of clinics, spanning 11 counties in the central and southern Illinois area.

SIHF also this month debuted a new motto, “Your health. Our mission,” McCulley noted.

“The name Southern Illinois Healthcare Foundation has served the organization well since its inception in 1985; however, the expansion of our service area, service offerings, and network of affiliates prompted the organization to establish a new name to reflect our expanded role and comprehensive healthcare services,” McCulley says.

SIHF already has 150 health care practitioners offering medicine, internal medicine, OB/GYN, pediatrics, specialty care, behavioral health and dental care, as well as other related health services, McCulley notes.

However, the foundation is targeting rapid expansion in a range of additional adult, family, women’s health, and population health services, he says.

Joe Jansen, a 30-year veteran of health administration who most recently served as Vice President & Associate Administrator at Des Peres Hospital in St. Louis County, joined SIHF March 22 as corporate vice president, to oversee further expansion of SIHF’s specialty services network and other business growth.

SIHF recently updated its Alton clinic in line with its expanded service model.

The Avon Breast Health Outreach Program in December awarded a $38,000 one-year grant to the SIHF START NOW Breast Health Services Program. START NOW’s focus is to increase awareness of the life-saving benefits of early breast cancer detection and increase breast health services to uninsured and underserved women in St. Clair, Madison and Clinton counties.

FQHCs are community-based organizations established to provide comprehensive primary care and preventive care, including health, oral, and mental health/substance abuse services to persons of all ages, regardless of their ability to pay or health insurance status.

Federally qualified health centers can receive funding under for several health programs established to improve healthcare access under the federal Health Center Consolidation Act.

However, to receive funding, the centers must meet criteria established by the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Bureau of Primary Health Care and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

An outgrowth of the civil rights movement of the 1960 and migrant farmers movement of the 1970s, community health centers (CHC) have become a critical component of the nation’s health care safety net. They now serve as the primary medical home for over 25 million people in 9,800 rural and urban communities across America.

Amid widespread contentiousness over virtually every other aspect of the healthcare delivery system, community health centers have long enjoyed bipartisan support at all levels of government and in the private sector.

President Barack Obama expanded FQHC funding in conjunction with the Affordable Care Act; a move supported by his Republican presidential rival Sen John McCain (R-AZ); long a leading advocate for the health centers.

SIHF clinics will accept most insurance plans including Medicare and Medicaid, and offers a sliding fee scale so that no patient is turned away for inability to pay.

That is important at a time when health care providers are increasingly refusing Medicaid – and in some cases even Medicare – patients due to low reimbursement rates, administrators note.

Among those on hand for the new Collinsville clinic’s center’s March ribbon cutting were Congressman John Shimkus (R. – Ill) and Congressman Rodney Davis (R-Ill.).

— Southern Illinois Healthcare expands mission in Metro East —