Monmouth Family Health Center was established in 2003 as a 501 (c ) 3 nonprofit organization. In 2004, the Center obtained status as a Federally Qualified Community Health Center Look-Alike. It was designated in 2009 as a section 330 Community Health Center.
For over 30 years, the Center operated as the Outpatient Department of Monmouth Medical Center before it became a separate corporation with its own independent, 11-member, Board of Directors whose composition reflects the community it serves.
Additionally, there is an Advisory Board composed of members of the community with primary responsibility of bringing community concerns to the Executive Director. Our mission is to provide high quality, comprehensive, affordable, culturally sensitive and linguistically appropriate primary and preventive health care to Hispanic, African American and other economically disadvantaged residents in the city of Long Branch and neighboring communities in Monmouth County.
The patients served are disproportionately poor, young, uninsured and members of minority groups. More than 35% of the city’s population of over 31,000 lives at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level. There are four census tracts within the city that have been federally designated as Low Income Medically Underserved Populations. Over a third of this population is under the age of 18. More than 34% of the city’s population is Hispanic and nearly 19% is African American. Spanish is spoken at home by 19% of the city’s population over the age of 5 years. Although there are 40 primary health care providers located near this community, most do not accept Medicaid or offer charity care.
The Center is housed in a 10,000 square-foot facility in downtown Long Branch, which is easily accessible by public transportation. It also has two satellite locations within the campus of the Monmouth Medical Center.
It is staffed by 68 full-time and two part-time employees, including physicians, dentists and podiatrists, nurses and others and since 2004; the Center has steadily grown from 27,000 encounters to more than 59,000 in 2009.
To meet the health needs of these diverse patients, the Center’s dedicated staff of doctors, nurses and other professionals provide a wide range of services, including pediatrics, adolescent and adult medicine, podiatry, HIV care, nutrition counseling, health education, social services, pre-natal and gynecological care and dental services. Our program of culturally sensitive primary care emphasizes early intervention and prevention. We utilize clinical protocols and databases that ensure evidence-based care and appropriate tracking for ongoing care management.
During the past six years, there have been a lot of accomplishments.These are:
Improved Access:
• Evening and Saturday hours have been added to accommodate the growing demand for our services and those who have jobs during the day.
• Trilingual personnel (Spanish, Portuguese and English) have been hired to facilitate communication.
• Board Certified Physicians have been added to complement the care delivered by residents of The Monmouth Medical Center.
• The dental program has been expanded to the 270 facility.
• A new Women’s Center is scheduled to open in July 2010
Technology:
• A new practice management system including scheduling, registration and billing has facilitated the integration of utilization and financial information. Through its implementation, the Center now has the capability to bill third parties electronically.
• A new call center was established to ensure that there is dedicated staff and technology to improve patients’ ability to reach personnel at the Health Center.
• The Center is presently planning for the installation of an electronic health record.
Process Improvement:
• Process improvement, including the measurement of patient satisfaction, is the backbone of the organization. Quality standards have been established through a number of resources including those mandated by the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, Healthy People 2010. These standards are systematically assessed to ensure a continuous delivery of high quality patient care. For example, the Center achieved 90% compliance rate for cervical cancer screening, 86% of patients received pre-natal care during the first trimester of pregnancy and 100% adhered to the recommended number of pre-natal visits. The rate for childhood immunization reached 90%. Patient satisfaction is high; the Center consistently achieves an overall satisfaction rating of 89% to 90%. All these indicators are included in both the Quality Improvement and Strategic Plans and are reported to the Board of Directors on a quarterly basis.
Outreach and Education:
• The Center consistently conducts four to five Health Fairs a year and provides free health screenings including dental, disseminates patient information and gives away door prizes and other gifts. Two of the Health Fairs take place during Health Center and Women’s Health Week. Additionally, the Center conducts a Christmas Party and distributes more than 500 gifts to children from infants to adolescents. Other educational programs are carried out during the normal course of operations.
• The Center provides assistance to the local food pantries and churches through drives conducted during the holidays and special events.
• The Center provides Pop Warner physicals, free of charge, to local students.
• The Center participates in the Reach Out and Reach Program and its various programs have been highlighted in national television (The MacNeil/Lehrer Report) and local newspapers such as the Asbury Park Press, Nosotros and the Link.
• The Medical Director, Dr. Raksha Joshi, a Board Certified physician in Obstetrics and Gynecology, frequently presents her research findings to the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Association of Professors of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She also writes health columns in Nosotros, a Spanish newspaper published in Freehold and the Shore African American Magazine. She participated in the Humanism in Medicine Program sponsored by the Department of Health and the Student Mentoring Project sponsored by NJPCA and conducts lectures at the local senior centers and the Housing Authority
Resource Development:
• In the last 6 years, the Center has received funds from ten foundations to carry out programs in health education, including cervical cancer programs, asthma prevention, pre-natal care, prevention of Black infant mortality and Emergency Room diversion, and to support the purchase of a defibrillator.
• The Center has received funds from various Medicaid HMOs to conduct health fairs and other educational activities.
• It has obtained state grants for expanded medical capacity, purchase of medical equipment and emergency preparedness.
• Recently the Center, in conjunction with Monmouth Medical Center, received a substantial grant to decrease the number of patients coming to the Emergency Room for primary care.
• The Center is now funded under the Federal 330 Program and has received fund under the American Recovery Act.
