Radcliff clinic receives federal funding to support military families and community
The expanded clinic will provide behavioral health and social services for veterans, military families and the community.
ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky., April 15, 2022 – Baptist Health Hardin leaders announced the hospital received $300,000 in federal funding to expand Baptist Health Medical Group (BHMG) Family Medicine Radcliff at 1679 North Wilson Road. The Radcliff clinic, located directly outside Fort Knox’s Wilson Gate, will grow to provide multidisciplinary healthcare services, including behavioral health and social services for veterans, military families and the community.
“We are grateful Congressman Brett Guthrie helped us secure funding to complete this first-of-its-kind project,” said Sheila Smallwood, assistant vice president of operations for BHMG. “The clinic offers patients easy access to caregivers who will help find solutions for behavioral health issues as well as connect them to other groups like Feeding America, Kentucky’s Heartland or United Way of Central Kentucky if they have a need.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), nearly one in five Kentucky adults (19 percent) report ever being told by a healthcare provider that they have a form of depression. In Kentucky, as with the nation, fewer than half (47 percent) of adults with a mental illness receive mental health treatment or counseling. The need for behavioral health and social work services to help patients with social deterrents to health is ever more acute with the advent of COVID-19.
Some clinic patients struggle with behavioral issues such as anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, drug and alcohol dependence, and deal with many socio-economic issues, including housing, food, utilities, finances and language barriers. The physicians and healthcare team must address the issues preventing care before they can provide services. This one-stop, multidisciplinary clinic will provide patients with financial coaching and counseling, behavioral health services, connection to Feeding America and more, all under one roof with no need for transportation.
The federal government has heightened interest in this project due to a large percentage of patients affiliated with the military. A total of 30 percent of 2021 patients at BHMG Radcliff are served by military insurance, indicative of their military affiliation.
The federal funding will help Baptist Health Hardin complete the clinic expansion that was paused in 2020 due to COVID-19.
In November 2019, Abound Credit Union (formerly Fort Knox Federal Credit Union) committed $1.5 million to support military and community health in Radcliff. The 10-year financial commitment and partnership, made possible through the Hardin Memorial Health Foundation, helped begin expanding services at the BHMG Radcliff clinic. Specifically, this funding pays for part-time behavioral health and social media services.
"All of us at Baptist Health Hardin are honored to care for military personnel and their families and for veterans who served our nation,” said Dennis Johnson, president of Baptist Health Hardin. “Fortunately, we are not alone in our commitment to them. We are grateful for the support of Congressman Guthrie and his staff as well as our partners at Abound Credit Union.”
In addition, access to care was one of four issues identified in Baptist Health Hardin’s 2021 Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) and Strategic Implementation Plan (SIP) released earlier this year. Catalytic efforts like this one at the Radcliff clinic help patients overcome obstacles impeding their health, including transportation and hunger.