Ohio Hills Health Services receives funding from OACHC, Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield to support COVID-19 testing

Ohio Hills Health Services is one of 20 community health centers to receive funds through Anthem grant to support PPE and supplies and equipment needed for testing

Barnesville, Ohio (July 15, 2020) – As COVID-19 cases begin to again rise across Ohio, OHHS is accelerating COVID-19 testing, diagnosis and treatment services. With $100,000 from Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Ohio, the Ohio Association of Community Health Centers has awarded OHHS funding to support the effort.

OHHS has been at the forefront of the COVID-19 pandemic in Belmont, Guernsey, Harrison, Monroe and Noble counties, providing health care to medically underserved populations. OHHS is one of Ohio’s 56 community health centers which provide affordable, quality, whole person medical, dental, vision and behavioral health care to more than 850,000 Ohioans.

“Rural residents need to have access to COVID-19 testing. The support from OACHC and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield allows us to offer area residents the services they need and deserve,” said Jeff Britton, CEO, OHHS. “We bill a patient’s insurance, however if their insurance does not cover the testing or if they do not have insurance there is no charge to the patients. OHHS is committed to providing accessible and affordable COVID-19 testing for our region.”

OHHS is offering Viral Testing on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 AM until noon, and Antibody testing on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 1- 4 PM. To ensure the safety of our patients and staff the viral testing is conducted in a tent in back of the Barnesville Family Health Center. In most cases, patients do not even need to get out of their vehicle.

 “During the pandemic, Ohio’s community health centers have been on the front lines protecting and providing health care to their patients, staff, and the communities they so well serve,” says OACHC Chief Operating Officer Julie DiRossi-King. “Keeping everyone safe is top priority. And the allocation of direct resources to support testing infrastructure is crucial to ensuring Ohio’s community health centers are a ‘safe place for safe care’. We are grateful for the generosity of Anthem to support so many communities across the state.”

The grants were designed to give the centers great flexibility to address needs specific to each center. Funds will be used across the state to secure items such as portable generators, signage, personal protective equipment, materials for mobile testing, test kits, tents, portable hand washing stations, automated temperature monitoring systems and much more.

“We stand with Southeastern Ohio, as we have for more than 60 years, to keep people safe and continue to work toward healthcare equality for all,” explained Tiffany Inglis, M.D., medical director at Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Ohio. “As we battle COVID-19, it’s critical that we ramp up testing here and across the state. These funds will go a long way to increasing vital access to testing.”

OHHS is a federally qualified health center that provides primary and preventive health, dental, and behavioral health services to all regardless of a patient’s ability to pay.  Centers are located in Barnesville, Caldwell, Freeport, Quaker City and Woodsfield. For information call 740-239-6447.

About Ohio Association of Community Health Centers
OACHC is a not-for-profit membership association supporting Ohio's 56 Community health centers across 400+ locations, including multiple mobile units, in 71 of Ohio’s 88 counties. Also known as Federally Qualified Health Centers and FQHC Look-Alikes, Community health centers are non-profit health care providers that deliver affordable, high-quality and comprehensive primary care to medically underserved populations, regardless of insurance status. They provide integrated whole person care, oftentimes providing onsite dental, behavioral, pharmacy, vision and other needed supplemental services under one roof. While each is distinct, they share one common purpose: to provide primary health care services that are coordinated, culturally and linguistically competent and community directed. Additional information can be found at http://www.ohiochc.org