By Malcolm Butler
For nearly three decades, the Lincoln Health Foundation has worked largely behind the scenes to address healthcare needs in Lincoln Parish, investing tens of millions of dollars in programs designed to improve access to care and reduce the burden on the parish’s hospital and emergency room.
As local leaders work to determine the future of healthcare in Lincoln Parish — arguably the biggest concern in our area –, Lincoln Health Foundation President and CEO Norman Haynes believes that role could become even more important.
The foundation traces its roots to 1996, when it was established as a supporting foundation for Lincoln Health System. After the hospital was sold to Community Health Systems in 2007, the foundation eventually received approximately $22 million from the transaction in 2010.
Rather than simply spending down those assets, the foundation invested them while making grants to address healthcare needs throughout Lincoln Parish.
“We’ve given away $26.5 million, and our corpus is $30 million,” Haynes said, citing a good investment strategy as the reason for the growth.
A current foundation funding report supports the distribution figure. As of Aug. 20, the Lincoln Health Foundation reported $26.52 million in total grant funding activity since 2008, distributed among 29 organizations. The foundation currently has 14 grants in progress totaling approximately $2.18 million.
According to Haynes, the foundation is required to distribute approximately 5% of its net assets annually, with the money directed toward identified healthcare needs within Lincoln Parish.
Healthcare access represents by far the largest portion of its current funding. Of the approximately $2.18 million in grants in progress, $1.71 million — 78.7% — falls under the foundation’s “Healthier Access” initiative.
The centerpiece of that effort is the Health Hut.
Established in 2012, the clinic provides primary healthcare to uninsured and underinsured residents who otherwise might struggle to obtain routine medical care.
Dr. Jackie White, medical director of both the Health Hut and Lincoln Health Foundation, said the clinic has served thousands of people since opening.
“We kind of like to say we fill the gap of access to healthcare because we know that’s a nationwide thing and especially here in North Louisiana,” White said.
The Health Hut recorded more than 6,000 patient visits last year, according to White, while Haynes said the clinic serves approximately 2,000 individual patients annually.
The Lincoln Health Foundation’s investment in the clinic has been substantial. Since 2008, the foundation reports providing approximately $10.65 million to the Health Hut, representing 40.15% of all grant funding distributed during that period. Its current Health Hut grant totals $870,000.
The patients benefiting from that investment are not necessarily unemployed.
White said historically about 60% of Health Hut patients are employed but may work for employers that do not provide health insurance, cannot afford available coverage or find themselves temporarily without insurance.
White said currently the Health Hut doesn’t see patients that have high deductible insurance or patients who are under insured, mainly because we have no way of looking up what type of insurance they have.
A review of Health Hut patient demographics found more than 200 employers and other workforce entities represented among its patients, according to White.
“So these are working people that have jobs, usually locally, and just either the insurance isn’t offered or they can’t afford it,” said White, who has seen the consequences of limited access to primary care firsthand during more than 20 years working in the local emergency room.
Before the Health Hut and other alternatives were available, White said patients routinely came to the ER for relatively basic needs, including blood pressure medication refills and ear infections. While those patients received care, an emergency room visit could leave someone without insurance facing a substantial bill.
The Health Hut provides another option while also potentially reducing unnecessary pressure on the local emergency room.
“Think about all the ER visits we’re saving,” White said.
Haynes believes that makes the Health Hut important not only to its patients but also to the financial health of Northern Louisiana Medical Center and whatever hospital model ultimately serves Lincoln Parish.
Diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol are among the most common conditions treated at the Health Hut, according to Haynes. Managing those chronic conditions through primary care can help prevent medical emergencies that could eventually require expensive emergency room or inpatient treatment.
Haynes estimates the Health Hut could save the local hospital between $2 million and $3 million annually in uncompensated emergency and inpatient care. The figure is Haynes’ estimate of the potential financial impact rather than an audited hospital savings calculation.
“Whatever solution we end up finding for Lincoln Parish, the Health Hut plays a huge role in keeping patients out of the ER,” Haynes said.
The Health Hut is now housed at the Health Hub alongside the Lincoln Parish Health Unit, bringing multiple healthcare resources together at one location. The Lincoln Health Foundation provided $218,680 for furnishings and equipment for the facility.
White said the arrangement has created additional opportunities for the organizations to work together in meeting patients’ needs.
“It’s been a blessing for so many,” White said.
While the Health Hut is the foundation’s largest single investment, its impact reaches well beyond one clinic.
Since 2008, the foundation reports providing approximately $4.25 million to Lincoln Parish Schools, $2.72 million to Life Choices, $1.59 million to the Boys & Girls Club of North Louisiana and more than $912,000 for clerical staffing at the Lincoln Parish Health Unit. Other funding has supported mental health services, nursing scholarships, food programs, mentoring and other health-related initiatives.
The foundation is also investing in determining what healthcare in Lincoln Parish should look like in the years ahead.
Its current funding includes $450,789 for the Empower Lincoln20 Healthcare Study, part of an effort involving the foundation, City of Ruston and Lincoln Parish Police Jury to assess the region’s healthcare needs and potential future models.
With approximately $30 million remaining in the foundation’s corpus, Haynes said questions have arisen about why those assets could not simply be used to purchase or build a hospital.
He believes that approach could jeopardize one of the resources necessary to make any future hospital financially sustainable.
Spending down the foundation’s assets could ultimately mean eliminating or substantially reducing programs such as the Health Hut that help uninsured and underinsured residents receive primary care before their medical conditions become emergencies.
For Haynes, that makes the foundation’s future role about more than helping finance healthcare projects.
“Whatever model we develop for whatever hospital facility we build in Ruston, its success is gonna hinge on our ability to get people seen if they don’t have insurance and keep them out of the hospital or the emergency room,” Haynes said.
That philosophy helps explain why the foundation has continued investing heavily in healthcare access rather than concentrating its resources in a single facility.
White believes many residents still do not fully understand the resources available through the foundation and Health Hut.
“It’s really such a sweet thing that our parish has this because it is pretty unique,” White said.
Haynes acknowledged the foundation could have done more over the years to explain its work to the public.
“I wish now we had done a better job in promoting to the public what the Health Hut does,” Haynes said.
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