March 28, 2016 11:56 pm
Published by Michael
Greenbrier County is gaining a health center this summer, thanks to a federal Section 330 grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration obtained by Rainelle Medical Center to construct a facility near the airport in Maxwelton.
Serving residents of northern and eastern Greenbrier County and southern Pocahontas County, the new health center will be sited just off U.S. 219 on Industrial Park Road next to the Crosswinds Center, a residential detoxification facility operated by Seneca Health Services.
The new health center will be operated by Rainelle Medical Center, a federally qualified health center (FQHC), and will provide a wide array of services.
“We are very excited to have the opportunity to expand the services that we provide into new areas, in a new facility that will be conducive to providing patients with the best possible care,” said RMC CEO Kristi Atha-Rader. “The new site will have primary care services, a 340b pharmacy, behavioral health and dental services.”
Housed in a modular building that will go up quickly once site prep work is completed, the new health center is scheduled to open by late summer. RMC marketing director Mary Surbaugh said the building will contain over 5,000 square feet, noting that the Airport Industrial Park property on which it will be sited also offers room for future expansion.
Atha-Rader said she expects to add several new employees, including physicians, mid-level providers, nurses, medical support staff and counseling staff, as well as a pharmacist, pharmacy staff and a dentist and support staff.
“We’re expanding services to everyone,” Surbaugh said, emphasizing that the sliding fee scale based on income that the health center will employ can benefit even those people who have insurance or Medicare coverage.
People with high insurance deductibles may pay only a percentage of the total charged, thanks to the sliding fee scale, but the full total will count toward the annual deductible, for example, Surbaugh said. The reduced fees also can provide relief to Medicare recipients with no secondary insurance.
“Health care is not very cheap these days,” Surbaugh said.
The health center will also accept Medicaid and self-pay patients, in addition to those with private insurance and Medicare.
Providing health care for area patients for more than 40 years, Rainelle Medical Center’s main location is in Rainelle, with additional locations in Alderson and Meadow Bridge. RMC also operates school-based health centers at Greenbrier East, Greenbrier West, Summers County and Midland Trail high schools; Eastern Greenbrier and Western Greenbrier middle schools; and Meadow Bridge schools.
Pointing out that RMC has added several new services and locations in recent years, Surbaugh said the lack of comprehensive health care options along the corridor from I-64 heading north was the primary reason for this latest expansion.
“Patients will be able to travel to this health center safely on nicely paved, two-lane roads,” she said. Frankford Elementary School is only two miles away.”
Citing RMC’s tradition of community involvement and emphasis on working with children, Surbaugh said one of her first priorities with this new health center will be to visit Frankford Elementary and find out what the needs are for that school population.
a Email: talvey@register-herald.com
