Owensboro’s Audubon Area Community Care Clinic is set to receive a $514,925 grant made available by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
In total, $21.7 million is being allocated to 25 healthcare centers across the state.
AACC Director Samantha Taylor-Kaai said her team was thrilled to hear they’d been selected to receive more than half a million dollars that will go toward combating COVID-19 spread for the homeless, low-income and underinsured populations across the seven-county Green River Area Development District, with the exception of Webster County.
“It’s a pretty substantial amount,” Taylor-Kaai said of the grant. “We’re so appreciative and happy to receive this. Since we’re a safety net for the community, it’s a great resource for us to have.”
The money will go toward ramping up AACC’s telehealth program, where those at Audubon Area are able to screen patients via video or phone call instead of having them come to the site in-person and risk spreading the virus further.
That funding will also go toward educational community outreach — something Taylor-Kaai said is imperative during a pandemic — and it’s especially important for those who don’t have access to medical care or feasible transportation.
“A lot of our community education will focus on letting people know where we are and how to find us,” she said.
The grant will also be used for more COVID-19 testing kits, personal protective equipment and, if possible, antibody tests that can determine immunity in those who suspect they’ve had the coronavirus.
AACC has tested 25 individuals from higher-risk populations, though Taylor-Kaai said all the results have been negative so far.
Communal living increases the risk of spread, so AACC’s guidelines require every person who displays symptoms while living at a homeless shelter be tested. The tests performed on patients through AACC are able to determine whether an individual has a viral infection, even if it’s not COVID-19.
“Some of these viral infections have very similar symptoms. I’ve seen patients come in who display the symptoms of [cough, fever and/or shortness of breath] attributed to COVID-19, but they test negative for it,” Taylor-Kaai said. “I have to commend the Homeless Council of the Ohio Valley because they’ve worked so hard to keep everyone [at risk] isolated to contain the spread.”
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