Health Resource Capacity Assessment for Danielson, Connecticut, June 2003

Health Resource Capacity Assessment for Danielson, Connecticut

June 2003

Danielson Description

Health Needs and Barriers to Care

Danielson Description: Healthcare Infrastructure/Resources

In many ways, Danielson is both rich and poor in healthcare resources.

Danielson is served by a strong and healthy acute care hospital, Day Kimball Hospital, in the next town of Putnam, Danielson is home to a satellite clinic site for a federally qualified health center, Generations Family Health Center. Danielson is part of an active, regional local health district, the Northeast District Department of Health. The Yellow Pages serving Danielson lists 159 physicians and 58 dentists serving the area. While some local physicians have retired recently, others have been hired and several practices are recruiting. Medicare and hospital databases list 15 physicians/providers practicing in Danielson, including five family practice physicians, one chiropractor, three optometrists, one podiatrist, one oral surgeon, 3 orthopedic surgeons, and one psychologist. Three of seven providers answering the question are not accepting new patients.¹⁸ The US Economic Census lists 16 health care and social assistance establishments in Danielson, including six physicians' offices, five offices of other providers, and one nursing and residential care facility as of 1997.¹⁹ Danielson is home to a facility for the care of substance abusers (New Perceptions/Right Turn and Transitions Outpatient Services) and a nursing home (Haven Health Center).²⁰ Danielson is also home to a wide array of social service providers, a Planned Parenthood Clinic, a state police troop barracks, and a homeless shelter. Killingly Memorial School, serving Danielson, has an active health support staff including a school nurse and social worker.²¹

Day Kimball is the area's only acute care hospital located in Putnam, approximately 10 miles from the center of Danielson²², accessible by public transportation. Day Kimball has also established an outpatient service site in Danielson. Day Kimball provides emergency, obstetrics, hospice, medical intensive care, oncology, psychiatric, cardiac care, clinical nutrition, homecare and homemakers, diagnostic radiology, laboratory, MRI, neurology, nuclear medicine, pediatrics, rehabilitation, rheumatology, inpatient and outpatient surgical services²³. While many Connecticut hospitals are struggling, Day Kimball is in relatively good financial shape with 72 staffed beds, 673 full time equivalent employees, and 4.5% positive operating margins for FY 2001, up from 1.1% in FY 2000²⁴. Day Kimball offers an extensive array of health education, wellness, support group, screening, and outreach programs for the area, financed primarily from operating income. Public support for Day Kimball is very high and perceptions of care quality are generally high. One childcare provider described access to care for children at the Day Kimball Pediatric Center as "amazing".²⁵

Generations Family Health Center, a federally qualified health center based in Willimantic, has a satellite clinic in Danielson with 8 exam rooms. Generations is the main primary care safety net provider in Danielson for the uninsured and residents on State Administered General Assistance (SAGA), Medicaid and HUSKY. Generations is a federally designated Health Care for the Homeless site providing comprehensive, coordinated services targeted to the homeless population.²⁶ Generations' case mix is 35 to 40% SAGA, 25-30% HUSKY, 17% uninsured and approximately 15% privately insured. For the uninsured, Generations is often the only provider accepting patients on an affordable sliding fee scale. Stakeholders regard Generations very positively; typical comments include, "I don't know what we would do without them" and "They are a Godsend." Generations has been successful in recently hiring two new providers and opening a new clinic in neighboring Brooklyn. While capacity at the Danielson facility is limited by space, efforts are being made to find a new site allowing Generations to serve growing uninsured, HUSKY, Medicaid and SAGA caseloads. While noting that state budget cuts have hit community health centers hard, Generations' administrators are deeply committed to continuing and expanding services provided in Danielson.²⁷

Despite these deep and stable resources for care, stakeholders and focus group participants noted a challenge for residents in accessing care, especially severe for the uninsured and those on SAGA, HUSKY or Medicaid. Waits for dental care, substance abuse treatment, and mental health services are substantial and often require travel to other towns²⁸. In January 2002, Danielson was designated as a Medically Underserved Area (MUA) by the US Health Resources and Services Administration. This designation is based on the ratio of primary medical care physicians per 1,000 population, infant mortality rate, percentage of the population with incomes below the poverty level and percentage of the population age 65 or over. This designation allows Danielson access to new federal resources including community health center funds and workforce training programs²⁹. Providers in the area noted the need for applications and designations for Danielson as a mental health and a dental MUA to access resources for those services³⁰.

Next: Danielson Description: Planning Initiatives

Footnotes