Wichita City Council approved a one-time funding allocation of $25,000 for Project Access on Tuesday.
The program coordinates donated medical and dental care for uninsured patients in Sedgwick County. KMUW’s Deborah Shaar Reports...
City council members voted unanimously to provide the funding to Project Access to help cover the costs of staffing and some prescription medicines.
Project Access director Anne Nelson says the money will help cover their costs for the rest of the year.
“It means there will not be the same kind of disruption of services later in the year," Nelson says. "Our direct services both in terms of medications as well as the staffing that we need to manage the hub that is Project Access.”
Council District VI Representative Janet Miller says the supplemental allocation comes from the city’s recent sale of a building.
“I’m glad that we are able to restore a little bit of the funding that we had to cut earlier," Miller says.
The city cut its funding to Project Access by $25,000 last year, prompting the Sedgwick County Commission in January to also cut some of its funding to the program.
Both the city and county provided $175,000 in funding for Project Access this year.
Nelson says they’re encouraged by the support the program received at the council meeting.
“Mayor Longwell extended a challenge across the street to county commissioners to suggest that they consider matching that $25,000 for Project Access at the county," Nelson says.
Project Access also receives funding from the United Way and private donors.
Project Access Facts:
- The Central Plains Health Care Partnership administers the Project Access Program.
- Project Access began in 1999 and has an $800,000 annual operating budget.
- Project Access provided $170 million dollars in donated medical care to more than 12-thousand people during its 15 years in service.
- Project Access provided about $9.5 million in donated medicine since 1999.
- 630 physicians, 12 dentists, and eight hospital systems, including Via Christi Health and Wesley Medical Center, participate in Project Access.
- About 65,000 people in Sedgwick County do not have insurance. The Kansas Health Foundation donated $50,000 to Project Access.
--
To contact KMUW News or to send in a news tip, reach us at news@kmuw.org.
Follow Deborah Shaar on Twitter @deborahshaar
