A dental clinic and a medical clinic in Austin, TX, are partnering to bring expanded care to thousands of uninsured and needy patients in the city, according to a story in the American-Statesman.
People's Community Clinic, which began in a church basement 40 years ago, will join forces with Manos de Cristo, a 22-year-old nonprofit that aids homeless and working poor people with food, clothing, education, and dental care.
The medical clinic has applied for federal grants of $650,000 for each of the next two years to obtain status as a federally qualified health center. To qualify, the clinic has to offer both dental and medical care, which is where Manos de Cristo comes in.
Dick Rathgeber, a local developer and philanthropist, has already donated $100,000 to help Manos buy a 1,220-sq-ft house next to its existing headquarters.
The dental program currently serves 3,200 to 3,500 people a year with four chairs. The expansion would double its capacity to eight chairs. It would also increase the number of patients the medical clinic sees from about 10,000 a year to 11,750 by the end of 2013, the Statesman reported.
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