< Regional Need Increasing for Access to Health Care>

Increasing access to health care has been a strategic focus of the Health Foundation since our inception. In recent weeks, I have been looking back over the Community Primary Care grantmaking and thinking about the challenges ahead. The good news is that over the past 10 years, grantees in our Community Primary Care focus area have added capacity to give 12,000 more people a medical home. Significant planning and implementation went into accomplishing this community benefit. This work is far from finished and the need is growing. It is disconcerting to see that the number of uninsured has increased in all three states in our service area. The biggest challenge is Kentucky: our latest Kentucky Health Issues Poll found the number of uninsured increased from 14% in 1995 to 33% in 2009. Our regional numbers will probably continue to increase over the coming year as more local businesses reduce staff.

The demand for additional healthcare services will increase as healthcare reform is implemented between now and 2014. A continuing challenge is adding enough capacity in medical and dental homes so that the currently uninsured can have a regular and trusted source of primary care when they get insurance. I am hopeful that there may be some state or federal opportunities to partner or collaborate with others to leverage funding.

In looking toward the future, I am reminded of the Carpenters' song "We've Only Just Begun."