Over $240,000 is coming to Flint Hills Community Health Center for expanded COVID-19 testing efforts.
The money comes as part of a nearly $5.8 million appropriation to 19 Kansas health centers through the Health and Human Resources Administration. The funding is part of the federal Paycheck Protection Program and Healthcare Enrichment Act which was signed into law by President Donald Trump in late April.
HHS Secretary Alex Azar says in a press release Thursday, “Widespread testing is a critical step in reopening America, and health centers are vital to making testing easily accessible, especially for underserved and minority populations.” In a separate release, Kansas Congressman Roger Marshall applauded the work of President Trump and the White House Coronavirus Task Force for helping ensure “adequate and accessible testing” for all Americans.
Marshall stated, “I have seen our community health centers put their testing capabilities and funding to good use and expect to see these facilities continue to step up and lead their communities’ testing efforts.” With the new appropriation, FHCHC has now received a total of $1,013,582 in funding for COVID-19 related testing and medical services.
Additionally, nationwide nearly $583 million has been awarded to over 1,300 HRSA funded health centers in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and eight U.S. territories for expanding testing capacity. This brings the total COVID-19 investment by the Trump administration into health centers to nearly $2 billion.
