Community Clinic of Maui gets $4.5 Million Grant Under New Law

Community Clinic of Maui, Mālama I Ke Ola Health Center. photo by Wendy Osher.

By Wendy Osher

The Community Clinic of Maui is the recipient of a $4.5 million grant made possible through new legislation outlined in the Affordable Care Act.

The new health care law was designed to help build and expand health centers, create jobs and expand access to hundreds of thousands of patients nationwide.

Other Hawaii health centers receiving funding through the grant program are West Hawaii Community Health center in Kailua Kona, which has a $5 million allocation; and The Bay Clinic in Hilo which will get a $498,051 appropriation.

The grants are part of the $728 million in funds provided under the new law to expand access to an additional 860,000 patients nationwide.

Here in Hawaii, the more than $10 million in grant funding will help to serve approximately 9,030 new patients.

“President Obama’s health care law is making community health centers in Hawaii stronger,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who announced the Hawaii grants.

“For many Americans, community health centers are the major source of care that ranges from prevention to treatment of chronic diseases. This investment will expand our ability to provide high-quality care to millions of people while supporting good paying jobs in communities across the country,” said Sebelius.

The awards are part of a series of capital investments that are made available to community health centers through the Affordable Care Act, which provides $9.5 billion to expand services over five years and $1.5 billion to support major construction and renovation projects at community health centers.