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Bettina Reed (seated) is shown with staff members from Bettina Reed is site director and nurse practitioner at Caroline Family Practice. |
BY JIM HALL
A new community health center opened in Caroline County this week, funded in part by federal stimulus money.
Caroline Family Practice opened Monday in a converted Safeway store on Broaddus Avenue in Bowling Green.
The center is operated by Central Virginia Health Services Inc., a nonprofit organization based in New Canton, south of Charlottesville.
The new center joins a handful of clinics in the Fredericksburg region to make up the area's health care safety net. All provide medical services to those who have no health insurance or can't afford treatment.
The Caroline center is similar to the others, yet also different.
It is open to all--adults and children, insured and uninsured--and accepts the major government health plans, such as Medicaid, Medicare and FAMIS.
However, all of its patients pay something for their care. A fee schedule, adjusted for income and family size, allows the poorest to pay $10 for an office visit. Discounts also are available for lab work and many medicines.
"It's not a free clinic," said Bettina Reed, the center's family nurse practitioner and site director.
Reed is a former nurse at the VCU Medical Center and a graduate of its family nurse practitioner program. Dr. Ellen Fleenor, a family practitioner, will join her one day a week.
Reed transferred to the center from another of Central Virginia's programs and will lead its staff of six.
Central Virginia operates 13 other community health centers in Virginia, including ones in Fredericksburg, Montross, Louisa and Aylett.
The organization received a two-year, $1.3-million grant from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration to open the Bowling Green center.
The Caroline clinic is one of five in Virginia to be funded by the new stimulus money. The money arrived within weeks of passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The bill included $155 million for 126 such clinics nationwide.
Jim Hall: 540/374-5433
Email: jhall@freelancestar.com
| LOCATION: 102 W. Broaddus Ave., Bowling Green. PHONE: 804/632-1030. HOURS: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday. 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., Thursday. FEES: Based on family size and income. All insurances welcome. PROVIDERS: Bettina Reed, family nurse practitioner. Dr. Ellen Fleenor, one day a week. |
