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Commissioners endorse support letter for Jefferson Street Health Center’s HRSA application
Summary
Johnson County commissioners approved a letter supporting Jefferson Street Health Center’s application to the Health Resources and Services Administration to expand primary and behavioral health access to underserved populations.
Johnson County commissioners on May 12 voted to approve a support letter for Jefferson Street Health Center’s application to the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), a step county officials said would help expand primary and behavioral health access in underserved parts of the community.
The support letter matters because HRSA awards and related federal programs can affect local access to primary care and behavioral health services and may enable recruitment incentives that make physicians easier to find for underserved clinics.
Betsy Swearingen, director of the Johnson County Health Department, and Paul Smith, vice president of physician services at Johnson Memorial Health, described the project as an effort to increase primary and behavioral health access for underserved populations. "It's really a project to increase primary and behavioral health access to underserved populations throughout the community," Paul Smith said. He added the project would help the clinic access federal recruitment resources.
Smith said the group intends to form a governing entity and that community volunteers, including department staff, have agreed to participate on a founding board that will meet over several months to present the entity to federal reviewers. The applicants described the effort as a formation process that requires organizational setup and federal review before award decisions.
A commissioner moved, seconded and the board approved a resolution to send the support letter to HRSA. The meeting record shows the motion carried by voice vote.
No funding commitment from the county was described during the May 12 discussion; speakers and the commission limited comments to support for the application and local organizational steps to prepare the submission.
County staff or the applicants did not provide a firm federal timeline for HRSA review at the meeting; Paul Smith indicated an expectation of hearing back in the future but did not provide a guaranteed date.
The applicants asked the county for the support letter to accompany the HRSA application; commissioners approved sending that letter to support the center’s federal application.
