By Joshn Weinhold, Truth Staff
jweinhold@etruth.com
ELKHART -- U.S. Rep. Joe Donnelly sees more and more signs that the area's economic fortunes are beginning to change.
The congressman was at the Heart City Health Center Tuesday to highlight what he says is another encouraging development locally.
"We have been through some choppy waters and some difficult times," said Donnelly, D-2nd. "But we're starting to see the other side of this."
HCHC, which provides health care for local uninsured and underinsured adults and children, was awarded nearly $700,000 in federal economic stimulus funding in recent months.
In March, the center learned it would receive a $187,000 grant through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act because of an increased demand for its health care services. The two years of funds pay for the center to employ a temporary physician and a future full-time employee.
HCHC recently was also awarded a $502,000 capital improvement projects grant to expand its Simpson Avenue facility.
"This is a recognition of the tremendous care people receive here," Donnelly said. "It will help to alleviate the burden of services."
The expansion plans are being finalized, chief executive Vernita Todd said. Seven patient exam rooms will be added, she said, and a groundbreaking could take place by early September.
The part-time doctor paid for by the first stimulus grant began in May, she said, and has helped reduce the waiting period for new patients from to months to 72 hours.
The stimulus money was awarded partially based on a formula reflecting the center's increased services demand, but part came through a competitive grant process.
HCHC became a federally qualified health center in 2007, after 10 years of being a "look-alike" center. Todd said that at that time, the center functioned like a federally funded operation without any of the financial support.
With recent announcements that Keystone RV Co. may soon hire at least 200 workers and a $39.2 million federal manufacturing grant coming for Navistar Inc., Donnelly said the area's luck seems to be turning around.
The recovery hasn't been quick or immediate, Donnelly said, but the area's residents have been focused on incremental improvement. He compared the effort to the grind-it-out style of the Woody Hayes-coached Ohio State football teams of the 1950s and '60s.
"We've been doing it our way," he said. "Three yards and a cloud of dust."
Elkhart Mayor Dick Moore, who joined Donnelly at Tuesday's event, said the city is grateful for any federal stimulus dollars it receives. The money is undoubtedly making a difference, he said.
"Things are happening," Moore said. "Something has been done. We know it's working."