BY JIM HALL

A new community health center will specialize in the care of those who can't afford medical care or can't find a doctor who'll take their insurance.

The Fredericksburg Community Health Center has received a federal grant of $525,000 to open Nov. 1 in the Bragg Hill Family Life Center in the city.

Central Virginia Health Services Inc., a Buckingham County-based nonprofit, will operate the center, its 12th in a chain of primary-care clinics. The organization was founded in 1970.

Its Fredericksburg center joins the Lloyd F. Moss Free Clinic, the Mary Washington Hospital Auxiliary Mobile Health Clinic, and the Fredericksburg Christian Health Center in treating the region's poor and uninsured.

"This increases that safety net," said Xavier Richardson, executive vice president for corporate development for MediCorp Health System, one of the organizers.

Medical care at the center will be free or low-cost, depending on income and family size.

"Lack of insurance or money should not prevent you from getting the health care you need," the company's Web site says.

The clinic will also treat patients with private medical insurance and those who can't find a doctor who will accept their government-sponsored insurance, such as Medicaid, Medicare and FAMIS.

"We can't find providers because the reimbursement levels are so low," Richardson said.

MediCorp, the Virginia Department of Health, the Bragg Hill Family Life Center and other community organizations have worked since 2005 to bring the clinic to the area.

Startup funding was provided by the Health Resources and Services Administration, a division of the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services.

Efforts to reach officials of Central Virginia Health Services were unsuccessful last week.

Jim Hall: 540/374-5433
Email: jhall@freelancestar.com