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Visiting nurse care ends

By JOSEPH FITZGERALD

The Call, June 30, 2003

BURRILLVILLE - In a letter to Burrillville Town Council President Wallace F. Lees, Northwest President and CEO Beverly B. McGuire said changes in Medicare and poor reimbursement from managed care prompted the decision to eliminate its Northwest Home Care department after nearly a century.

"While our home care department could have remained viable for another couple of years, proposals by Medicare do not promise anything but future decreases in reimbursement," McGuire said.

Northwest Health Center is a non-profit organization and federally certified rural health clinic, which provides primary medical care to the elderly and needy. Formed in 1909, it is the oldest community health center in Rhode Island. Money received from the town is utilized to subsidize the cost of free or discounted care. The facility receives about 12,000 visits a year and nearly one-third of Burrillville residents receive some level of service at the health center, including home care. About 62 percent of Northwest’s patients live in Burrillville.

The organization’s Northwest Home Care department was essentially a visiting nurse program in which registered nurses would visit the homes of patients to provide an array of health care services, including nursing care, personal care, social services, physical therapy, speech and language pathology, occupational therapy and hospice care.

McGuire said there will be a "smooth" transition of patients to another provider and that Northwest is offering employment with another organization for most of the home care employees affected by the decision to eliminate the program.

Meanwhile, Northwest Health Center remains open and will continue to provide its many other services, including OB-GYN, diabetic outpatient education, laboratory and radiology and dental and mental health care.

"Despite the financial barriers we face, Northwest remains committed to our mission," McGuire said in her letter to Lees. "We look forward to a continued relationship with the town of Burrillville as we meet the ongoing health care needs of our residents."

Last October, Northwest was awarded a $499,200 federal grant to expand and provide health services. About $140,000 of the grant was used to fund capital improvements and the remainder was used for operational support, including expansion of primary care services and dental and mental health services. In 2001, Northwest obtained a $423,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development loan to purchase and renovate an adjacent building on Sayles Avenue in Pascoag. The building at 15-23 Sayles Avenue was purchased by the center and connected to the center’s existing main building at 36 Bridgeway.

The Northwest organization began in 1909 as the Burrillville Anti-Tuberculosis League. When the Medicare program was developed in the 1960s, five local anti-tuberculosis leagues (Smithfield, Foster, Glocester, Scituate, Burrillville) merged into what was renamed as Northwest Community Nursing and Health Service. Today, that entity serves as the parent and management company for Northwest Home Care -- now eliminated -- and Northwest Health Center.

According to Northwest officials, a significant number of low-income families and elderly rely on the center for their health care. Approximately 18 percent of Northwest’s patients have no health insurance and another 50 percent are covered by Medicaid and Medicare. About 47 percent of patients have income levels at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level.