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The Moffat County Care Clinic, which specializes in treating low-income and uninsured patients, received a financial shot in the arm Thursday courtesy of a large grant from The Colorado Health Foundation.

"This funding will have a huge impact on low-income and uninsured residents in Northwest Colorado by increasing their ability to obtain health care," VNA Executive Director Sue Birch said.

The Care Clinic's operator, the Northwest Colorado Visiting Nurse Association, announced Thursday that it had been awarded an $805,909 grant. The grant, which will be paid to the VNA during the next three years, will be used as seed money to expand Care Clinic services.

"We now have three years of funding, which will allow us to provide high-quality services to these residents while better positioning ourselves for federal funding and establishing other avenues of sustainability," Birch said.

The Care Clinic, 745 Russell St., is currently open two afternoons per month. With the increased funding, the VNA will be able to expand clinic services to a full-time, five-day-a-week operation and hire additional employees, including a full-time physician and nurse practitioner, and clerical staff.

It will also pay for treatment expenses, Miller said.

The grant money represents a big leap forward for local uninsured and low-income health care, VNA access to care coordinator Diane Miller said.

"We estimate that probably 3,000 to 4,000 people are below ... the poverty level in Moffat County, and many of them are uninsured," Miller said. "So, there is a market there."

The grant money is contingent upon continued financial contributions from The Memorial Hospital and Yampa Valley Medical Center. The VNA is collaborating with both hospitals to meet the conditions of the grant, VNA officials said.

The Colorado Health Foun--dation is an organization designed to improve access to quality, affordable health care for underserved and low-income patients. The foundation invests in communities through grants, initiatives, medical education programs and direct care programs for older adults, families, mothers and infants.

Miller said the VNA hopes to have the Care Clinic open full-time by this fall.

In the meantime, the VNA has already begun researching and applying for funding sources to sustain the clinic beyond the three-year grant cycle established through the health foundation grant.

"We really hope over the next three years to find other ways to keep the clinic open," she said.

The VNA is proceeding with filing an application for Federally Qualified Health Center Look-alike status. The FQHC designation would provide no funding, but, instead, allow the VNA to received enhanced Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement, providing more financial sustainability.