In West Virginia, nonprofit mental health programs for teenage girls are turning to private donors to cover their costs. Three Virginia clinics closed the doors. Mississippi’s network of rural health centers is also facing a $500,000 deficit and may have to scale back services, NBC News reported.
All over the country, health clinics and nonprofit organizations that primarily serve rural and low-income patients have found that they have no access to previously allocated federal funds.
The confusion appears to stem from a vaguely expressed two-page memo sent to all federal agencies earlier this week. President Donald Trump’s agenda.
The judge immediately blocked the case last week, and in a filing, the Justice Department said in a filing Wednesday that the agency was working through the process of issuing all appropriate funding payments. However, some organizations say they still don’t have access to the money they need to pay for their salaries, utilities, supplies and other expenses.
“We continue to hear from nonprofits that don’t have access to the funds needed to continue the program and continue paying staff,” said Diane Yentel, CEO of the National Council of Nonprofits. It’s there. Block fundraising freezes. “It is clear that the confusion and confusion that the directive unleashed was that it has been revoked and not over despite temporary restraining orders from two different courts.”
Yentel said much of the funding the group has no access to comes from programs managed by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Some organizations have not had the problem of withdrawing funds since the memos directing a freeze on funding were withdrawn, while others have withdrawn money from web payment systems that manage federal grants I was unable to do so.
A spokesman for HHS acknowledged that some grant recipients have experienced problems accessing federal funds and thought there was a delay in the technical issues the agency’s website has. . Last week, following the funding freeze, we received a massive amount of requests as the website was temporarily offline.
HHS is working to “help to promote solutions as quickly as possible,” a spokesman said in a statement.
Health clinics and nonprofits that serve low-income patients say there is little wiggle room in their budgets to cover costs without federal assistance.
Republicans voted together to advance the appointment of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Health Secretary, but Democrats opposed it in a committee vote Tuesday morning.
The Community Health Center, also known as the federal-certified Health Center, has a federal government-certified health center, providing medical, dental, behavioral health and substance use disorder services to more than 32 million Americans. It depends on grants. According to the National Association of Community Health Centers, this accounts for one in five people in rural areas and one in three people in poverty.
In Virginia, 11 of the state’s 31 community health center operators had no access to funds as of Thursday morning, said Joe Stevens, a spokesman for the Virginia Community Health Care Association. . One of these providers is required to close three Richmond clinics, leading patients elsewhere. Another clinic in rural southwest Virginia is at risk of cutting or closing services if funds don’t arrive in the next two weeks, Stephens said.
“If a medical center is closed in rural Virginia, there are no hospitals nearby and no emergency centers nearby, as many people are the main source of healthcare,” Stevens says.
During the confirmation hearing, Trump’s candidate for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., said “Like the president, I have a strong support for community health centers.” But Democrats, including Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, criticized Kennedy for how he answered questions about these programs, and Warner said that Kennedy “feels like he’s confused.” He said.
Several clinics in Maine, Nebraska, Illinois and Michigan are run by the federal government that they use to access their money, according to advocates for Community Health, a community health center advocacy group. We were unable to withdraw funds from the website either.
“There is no answer as to the reason behind it, but we know that health centres can’t afford to wait. [the Health Resources and Services Administration] “We’re excited to be able to help you get started,” said Amanda Pears Kelly, CEO of Community Health Advocates. “Virginia health centers have already been forced to cancel patient appointments this week due to lack of access to payments, and we fear more closures and Farrow is ongoing.”
In Mississippi, Delta Health Center, which operates clinics throughout the Mississippi Delta area, is waiting for nearly $500,000 in federal funds to be released to reimburse clinics for expenses, including pay. If money isn’t available immediately, clinics could face “potential disruptions in services,” said Chief Programming Planning and Development Director of Delta Health Centre, the country’s first rural community health centre. One Robin Boyles said.
The Mississippi Association of Community Health Centers said last week that 21 centers had shut down the system of lowering funds.
In Alabama, CEO of Kahaba Medical Care, which serves parts of the Birmingham area, and Dr. John Ways, who serves more rural Alabama, has spread the froze of federal funding. The first news of the film said it had entered “crisis management” mode last week. .
The federal funds he needed to do his payroll were not available until 5pm last Friday. Approximately 30% of his program’s funding comes from federal grants. The organization had to use its reserve funds to earn around $3.5 million in salaries for 610 employees before federal funds were finally available again on Tuesday.
“It’s very scary to have to receive an email saying that if you don’t comply with XYZ, all of the funds across the organization are at risk,” he said. “But as the dust settled, I calmed down my team and said, ‘No one’s going to lose his job.’
The SGE category was created by Congress in 1962 to hire external experts.
Elena Nicholera, director of the Rhode Island Health Center Association, said her state health clinics have seen rolling issues since the funding freeze last week. The website the clinic used to access funds Thursday morning was not accessible before returning online in the afternoon.
It wasn’t until Thursday evening that all Minnesota health centers received funding, but the organization continues to worry about what could come next, says John, CEO of the Minnesota Community Health Center Association. Watson said.
“At this point, we all have access to it, but we’re very concerned about moving forward due to the roller coaster we’ve been on,” Watson said.
The confusion has spread beyond medical clinics, even nonprofits that provide mental health and other support services. In West Virginia, nonprofit Rivera has no access to funds from the HHS grants and is unable to help middle school students pay for mental health support groups and resources.
The organization requested funds last Thursday and expected it to be available on Friday. A week later, the money had not been released yet, and the website portal was not accessible Thursday morning. Haring said he contacted private donors to cover the costs of staff, training and other resources until federal dollars were available.
“As you can imagine, it makes us very confused and uncertain. I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know why the website is down. Why haven’t we received payments? I don’t know,” Haring says. “These federal grants are usually working on refunds, so you spend your money and then submit a payment request before you get a refund. We’re very worried that we may not get them. I’m doing it.”
Daniel Burns contributed.
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