Trillium Health, the local community health center, is getting a $3 million federal grant that will help with expansion efforts. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Congressman Joe Morelle (D-25), recently announced that grant which is designed to expand accessibility to health care.
Schumer and Morelle said the funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration will convert Trillium into a fully-fledged Federally Qualified Health Center and help the organization provide additional services.
In a statement, Morelle said that “Healthcare is not a luxury, it’s a basic human right,” and he said it should be available to everyone regardless of income, background or zip code.
Schumer said that the new federal funding will help Trillium “expand accessibility to communities in the Greater Rochester area that have historically faced barriers to care and lacked adequate health coverage.”
Jason Barnecut-Kearns is the President and CEO of Trillium Health, and he told WXXI News that among the things this grant will be used for is to establish another site in the southwest part of the city, on Jefferson Avenue.
“When we look at the analysis, it shows there is a really high unmet need, so because of high poverty rates,” said Barnecut-Kearns. “So yeah, that's an area we're always looking for is how do we embed as a community health center in the community, which then enables access.”
That Jefferson Avenue location for Trillium is expected to open next April or May, and Barnecut-Kearns said that with the designation as a Federally Qualified Health Center, it will provide opportunities for Trillium serve more people with more services.
“As we look forward as part of our strategy to get to some of our targets is to look for opportunities where we can place additional community health centers, but also expand some of our service lines,” he said.
As an example, Barnecut-Kearns said that besides looking for opportunities to place additional community health centers, Trillium may also look at the possibility of providing dental services.
