At last week’s meeting of the Talkeetna Community Council, Inc board of directors, representatives of the Sunshine Community Health Center board announced their plans to open an additional clinic in Wasilla.
Kathy Watkins, SCHC Board President, says the organization approved moving forward with the new clinic at its January meeting. The proposed opening date is December 31st of this year.
The plan is for the new clinic to be located in a building that belongs to the Mat-Su Health Foundation. The clinic board plans to maintain all services that are currently offered locally, with the hope of being able to provide options for some specialists in Wasilla as opposed to referring patients to Anchorage.
Watkins says Sunshine was approached by both Mat-Su Regional Hospital and the federal Health Resources and Srevices Administration witha request to pen the new facility. HRSA is the main grant funder for Sunshine Community Health Center, and the model of community health centers that provide services on a sliding scale is something that HRSA and Mat-Su Regional hope will cut down on uninsured and underinsured patients visiting the emergency room for non-emergencies.
Specifics for what services will be provided have yet to be determined, though the current plan is for Sunshine Community Health Center to remain based in the Northern Susitna Valley. Kathy Watkins says area residents with questions and concerns can address them to the SCHC board, which will meet on the 25th of this month at the Talkeetna clinic.
