National consulting firm assists seven Federally Qualified Health Centers receive ACA funds

ROCKFORD, IL: September 17, 2015 – US Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) announced today the awarding of $5,842,634.00 in Affordable Care Act funding to clients of theFranaGroup.

$2,071,502.00 in funding awards will help establish Expanded Services to serve new patients in six states; Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Nevada, and Alaska.  These expanded services will help to serve a total of 6,682 new patients for comprehensive health services in the nation. Awards ranged from $245,758 to $457,930 each.

$3,771,132.00 in funding awards is for the Health Infrastructure Investment Program.  The purpose of this grant program is to support existing FQHC clinics to increase their patient capacity and to provide additional comprehensive primary and preventive health services to medically underserved populations through the alteration/renovation, expansion, or construction of a facility.  Four clients of theFranaGroup in three states Illinois (2), Iowa and Louisiana received awards ranging from $771,132 to $1 million each.

HHS is committed to ensuring more people across the country have access to the quality patient-centered care they deserve.  Health centers are key partners in improving access to quality, affordable primary health care services for persons in high risk populations.  These awards build on the $101 million awarded to 164 new health center sites in May 2015.

FQHCs now represent the largest primary practice in the United States. They served more than 23 million patients and 87 million patient visits at over 9,000 service sites in 2014 with a combined staffing of over 153,000 health care professionals.  Health centers now provide primary care to one in fourteen people living in the United States.

About theFranaGroup

theFranaGroup, founded in 1999, is a healthcare consulting firm that provides solutions for Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC), including a wide array of services tailored to CommunityHealthCenter operations and strategy, both before and after funding. With a proven track record of success, theFranaGroup offers a variety of services to achieve and maintain FQHC status including grant writing, strategic planning, management consulting and Board and staff development. The firm has helped clients earn more than $1 billion in direct funding and enhanced billing capabilities. In 2014 alone, theFranaGroup client clinics served more than 525,000 unduplicated patients with approximately 1,600,000 patient visits. As a result, these healthcare facilities better served their communities and improved the overall access and quality of health services provided to the most at-risk populations.