St. Louis County is one step closer to seeing its health department qualify for millions in additional federal funds each year, county officials announced.
Federal officials from the Health Resources Services Administration accepted the county’s application to grant its three health clinics — in Berkeley, Pine Lawn and Sunset Hills — federal designation as special qualified health centers.
That means the application has cleared the largest hurdle in receiving federal approval, said Derrick Melton, CEO for federally qualified health centers at the St. Louis County Department of Public Health.
“For the county, we spend a lot of time talking about the money that this will bring in,” Melton said. “It’s huge for the county and the metropolitan patients which we serve.”
The county has asked the federal government to grant the clinics status as federally qualified health center lookalikes. Such community health centers provide primary care to everyone, even those who don’t have insurance. They also provide the same safety net services as federally qualified health centers such as Affinia or People’s Health Centers but have a different federal funding model.
The county’s clinics already fulfill the same mission as FQHCs, county officials have said. They provide safety net primary care services such as dental care, vaccinations and pediatric check-ups, offering treatment on a sliding cost scale based on income.
If federal officials approve the county's request, Medicaid and Medicare will reimburse the county at higher rates for the care it provides. The department also could obtain access to federal grants and prescription drugs at lower prices. County Executive Sam Page has said the designation could put an additional $6 million in health department coffers annually.
The first step in the process was turning in the application to federal officials with the department of Health and Human Services.
The county submitted the application in June. Melton thinks it’s a good sign that officials accepted it within months — lightning speed, when it comes to federal regulatory approval, he said.
Now, the health clinics need to prepare for site visits from Health Resources and Services Administration officials, Melton said.
“They’re looking to see if everything we wrote in our application is true, lay eyes on it, look at the facilities, talk to a few patients,” he said. “The bulk of the work is done, they just want to make sure that we’re demonstrating in good effort the things we wrote, and that we’re still in compliance based on the date we submitted the application.”
Federal regulators are hoping to visit sometime in early 2025, Melton said.
The county plans to use any money from the new designation to hire more staff to work at the clinics. The county has had difficulty retaining clinical employees, he said.
“Being able to recruit and retain is huge … in health care," Melton said. “It’s competitive not just for FQHCs, but for health care in general. We have to become competitive in this market, we have to use that money to grow programs and look at expanding.”
Correction: This story has been updated to correct when federal regulators are expected to conduct a site visit.
