Jan. 17, 2012
Health Care for the Homeless Reborn as Outreach Community Health Centers
CONTACT: Lee Carroll, Executive Director, (414) 374-2400, lee@orchc-milw.org
Milwaukee, Wis. – The New Year brings an exciting new name, image and facility to the agency formerly known as Health Care for the Homeless.
The 31-year-old organization has been renamed Outreach Community Health Centers Inc. More importantly, the health care agency will significantly expand its primary care services to include pediatric care and on-site pharmacy services in an existing clinic, located next to the Chase Bank at 210 W. Capitol Drive.
The rebranding recognizes Outreach Community Health Centers’ expansive services that reach out to a much larger population and serve the non-homeless as well. The new clinic and pharmacy are further recognition of the agency’s growing services to entire families in the Greater Milwaukee area. Agency staff will also assist clients with access to programs such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Medicaid and food stamps.
“The name Outreach Community Health Centers recognizes that our medical providers and staff are serving a greater segment of the local population than ever before,” said Lee Carroll, Executive Director. “As more people fall through cracks in the health care system, we are working harder than ever to meet their needs in an efficient, dignified manner.”
Because clinics have increasingly placed limits on the number of publicly-funded patients they serve, many people are unable to access care even though they are enrolled in Medicaid or BadgerCare, Carroll added. Often these patients can access care only through hospital emergency departments that do not provide an option for ongoing care.
“The new Outreach Community Health Centers location, scheduled to open in January 2012, will help meet the growing demand for services from those with Medicaid who are unable to access services, and a sliding-fee scale for the working poor and newly uninsured,” Carroll said. “While the agency has long offered primary care, the need for pediatric services was evident to help the increasing number of families coming through its doors. The new pharmacy available only for clinic patients will ensure that patients get the medications they need to manage their care.”
The agency provides care at four satellite primary care clinics and a dental clinic through collaborative partnerships with area health systems. Its original site at 711 W. Capitol Drive provides case management, substance abuse services, street outreach and supportive services to assist the homeless and benefits. More than 10,000 patients were treated at its locations in 2010.
