WELLSVILLE, NY – The Rural Health Clinic program was
established by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid in 1977 to increase access
to primary care services in rural, underserved communities.
After two years of intense effort, the Jones Memorial
Primary Care Practices primary care offices in Hornell, Wellsville, Belvidere,
and Bolivar have been certified RHC.
“Rural Health Clinic status is another way of ensuring that
the quality services provided by our primary care practices meet RHC
guidelines,” explained Michele McMorris, Jones Memorial Medical Practices
Director of Operations. “The practice management team has been focused on this
goal since early in 2019. With RHC status, our patients will continue to have
access to the care they need, close to home.”
In addition to being a rural practice in an underserved
area, to qualify for RHC status the medical staff at the practice must include
a non-physician provider such as nurse practitioner (NP), physician assistant
(PA), or certified nurse midwife (CNM) and these providers must see patients
during at least 50-percent of office hours. In addition, RHCs are required to
provide basic laboratory services on-site.
“I know Michele and her staff have been working very hard to
achieve this status,” said Eva Benedict, CEO at Jones. “On behalf of the board
and administration, I want to thank them for their hard work and congratulate
them on their success.”
Maintaining RHC certification requires a successful on-site
recertification inspection by CMS every three years.
