Obama to give $600 million to health centers

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama said on Wednesday he will allocate nearly $600 million from the $787 billion economic stimulus plan to help create jobs at 85 community health centers.

Obama is under heavy pressure to generate job growth in the United States, with the November unemployment rate at 10 percent.

Republicans say the stimulus package passed in February by the Democratic-controlled Congress has had little impact, but Democrats counter that the stimulus pulled the country back from the brink of an even deeper recession.

The White House said nearly $600 million would awarded to help pay for major construction and renovation projects at 85 community health centers across the country and assist networks at the centers to move to electronic records.

The funds are expected not only to create new jobs in construction and health care, but also to help provide care for more than 500,000 additional patients in underserved communities, the White House said.

Obama also announced a new demonstration initiative to support the delivery of advanced primary care to elderly and disabled Medicare patients through community health centers.

“Together, these three initiatives — funding for construction, technology and a medical home demonstration project — won’t just save more money and create more jobs, they’ll give more people the peace of mind of knowing that healthcare will be there for them and their families when they need it,” Obama said.

“Ultimately, that’s what health reform is really about.”

To qualify for funding, a facility must be a federally qualified “community” health center.

(Reporting by Steve Holland, editing by Chris Wilson, reuters)