Horizon’s Community-Based Health Care Network Welcomes the Opportunity to Provide Fort Thompson Patients Quality Medical Care and Financial Resources
(FORT THOMPSON, SD) – Horizon Health Care, Inc. (Horizon), a rural, community-based network providing affordable, high-quality primary healthcare throughout 18 medical and dental clinics in South Dakota, received federal funding May 6, 2015 to open a community health center in Fort Thompson. The funding, which will go to 164 health centers in 33 states, is expected to increase access for over 650,000 patients.
Horizon’s newest community health center will provide patients with personalized, quality, primary health care with the extra benefit of enhanced resources like the Sliding Fee Program, 340B Program, and acceptance of most health insurance. The funding will help Horizon cover start-up costs and allow Horizon to offset the costs of providing reduced patient fees through the Sliding Fee Program.
“Our main focus is to offer quality health care that is accessible to the community as a whole,” said John Mengenhausen, CEO of Horizon Health Care, Inc. “And with Horizon’s Sliding Fee Program, partnerships with providers in neighboring areas, as well as expanded medical services, we’re excited about being able to serve even more people in Fort Thompson and the surrounding communities.”
The new community health center will provide the Fort Thompson community with a wide range of health services such as family medicine, pediatrics, emergency treatment, lab services and mental/behavioral health. The new facility also plans on partnering with Sanford in Chamberlain for additional specialty services. The Fort Thompson office will begin as a paperless office with the implementation of Horizon’s Practice Management/Electronic Medical Record and telemedicine capability.
Scheduled to begin serving patients on September 1, 2015, Horizon is actively looking for the location of the new health center and new staff recruitment is underway. Horizon’s existing providers in the surrounding areas will be available for training and to provide specialty services.
For over 35 years, Horizon Health Care, Inc. has been providing personalized, affordable, high-quality medical, dental and mental health care through a rural, community-based network in South Dakota. Horizon is a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) that serves the medical, dental and mental health care needs of South Dakotans in rural, medically underserved areas through 78,000 patient visits annually in 18 community health centers in: Aberdeen, Bryant, DeSmet, Fort Thompson, Howard, Huron, Lake Preston, Martin, Mission, Plankinton, Wessington Springs, White River and Woonsocket. For more information please visit www.horizonhealthcare.org