Boca Helping Hands will help fund the cost of serving uninsured individuals by providing vouchers for primary care and behavioral healthcare visits at the two clinics, expanding access to these needed services.
Currently, Boca Helping Hands provides healthcare vouchers through Genesis Community Health clinics to serve low-to-moderate income clients in Boca Raton and Boynton Beach. This new partnership with FAU’s College of Nursing will expand healthcare access to populations in need of these services but who are outside the reach of the locations of the Genesis clinics.
The neighborhoods near FAU’s two Community Health Centers in West Palm Beach are comprised predominantly of Black and Hispanic residents who live below 200% of the federal poverty level. Many of these residents have chronic health conditions and low levels of health education, factors which also made them some of the most severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The communities were two of the areas most brutally hit in Palm Beach County, both in the rate of cases and deaths.
People in poverty often lack the health literacy and access to resources needed to develop sustained care partnerships essential for their long-term health and well-being. FAU’s Community Health Centers are strategically located in these medically underserved areas. Becoming embedded in the community and through collaborations with additional neighborhood partners, such as local churches, the clinics engender trust with prospective patients and are better able to communicate the need for preemptive health assessments.
“BHH is privileged to be able to partner with the FAU Community Health Center to extend access to affordable healthcare to clients in West Palm Beach,” said Greg Hazle, Boca Helping Hands Executive Director. “Combined with our existing partnership with Genesis Community Health, this will help uninsured clients throughout Palm Beach County to obtain much needed medical, dental and behavioral care.”
Needs assessments conducted by health departments and a community organization working with FAU found the service area has a tremendous need for additional accessible medical and behavioral health services. More than 20% of the population is uninsured, compared to 15% in Florida and the county. In partnering with FAU’s College of Nursing, Boca Helping Hands is moving toward meeting that need and expanding its healthcare program reach into northern Palm Beach County.
“We are delighted to partner with Boca Helping Hands on this exciting opportunity,” said Safiya George, Ph.D., APRN-BC, FAANP, Dean and Professor at FAU’s College of Nursing. “It will tremendously benefit uninsured residents and patients in West Palm Beach, especially those with the greatest need in the Westgate and Northwest neighborhoods that surround our Community Health Centers.”
The FAU Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing faculty will also be helping with mentorship and job placement of Certified Nursing Assistants who participate in the Boca Helping Hands Job Training Program.
In addition to working with FAU’s College of Nursing, Boca Helping Hands has also been partnering with the FAU Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine’s Medical Post Baccalaureate Program, which is designed to give students who have the motivation, desire, and commitment for medical school the additional skills and experience that can propel them to become competitive applicants. The 2020-2021 academic year was the inaugural year of this program, through which Boca Helping Hands provided community service learning opportunities. BHH had seven post-Baccalaureate students volunteer bi-weekly to assist with client intake for its hunger relief programs over the past year, and in the coming year, this partnership will continue to provide more medical-school hopefuls with valuable client-facing interactions while helping those in need in the community.
