DC Primary Care Association Unveils Plans to Boost Healthcare Quality for All

The District of Columbia Primary Care Association (DCPCA) was awarded  a $29.8 million grant for their Medical Homes DC Project, which includes expansion eff orts for projects serving the health needs of low-income and uninsured DC residents.

To rebuild DC’s primary care system for an estimated  210,000 low-income residents who live in areas of DC that lack suffi  cient medical services, Medical Homes DC will invest an estimated $145 million in capital
needs, quality improvements and administrative services over 10 years.

“We want to make sure that everyone has the same access to primary care, regardless of income or where they live,” said Sharon Baskerville, the chief executive of DCPCA. “Why do we have to tolerate people using emergency rooms as their primary care physicians instead of having quality health care for all DC
residents?”

On Dec. 12, DCPCA unveiled the completion of the expansion and renovation of Family and Medical Counseling Service Inc. (FMCS), located at 2041 MLK Ave. SE, as one of the early successes of the DCPCA Medical Homes DC Capital Projects. Those present were taken on a tour of the newly renovated
facility and given a virtual orientation to the DCPCA electronic health records system.

Fashioned similar to the electronic system of medical providers like Kaiser Permanente, the DCPCA electronic health records system allows DCPCA providers to transfer patient info for immediate access that is not dependent on faxing, mailing or other hard copy forms that may delay immediate health attention.
By the completion of all of the renovations and implementation of the electronic health records system, Baskerville hopes that the services available to lowincome DC residents will be comparable to what insured patients receive.

“I want people with insurance, who can pay and aff ord health care, to want to walk in and receive services at these sites. All public money should be distributed this way, so there is no ‘ghettoization’ of what kind of care you get,” she said.