The Temple University Hospital health system is transferring six Temple primary care clinics to a new independent health nonprofit, Fair Hill Community Physicians.
Temple University Health System this week named the six physicians’ offices that will become part of a new independent health-care organization called Fair Hill Community Physicians.
When the move was first announced in November, the health system did not specify which practices would join the initiative to expand health-care services in North Philadelphia.
The Temple practices will transfer to Fair Hill starting Jan. 1 without interruption to services. Patients who already attend the practices will not have to change medical providers. The practices transferring are:
Temple Physicians at Liberty Square (adult medicine)
Temple Physicians at Hunting Park (adult medicine)
Temple Physicians at Hunting Park (pediatrics)
Temple Physicians at Nicetown (family medicine)
Temple Comprehensive Health Center (internal medicine)
Temple Comprehensive Health Center (pediatrics)
Temple expects the new Fair Hill practices to eventually become federally qualified health centers (FQHCs). These clinics qualify for better payment rates from the government-funded Medicaid and Medicare health insurance programs to work with communities lacking access to health care. Such centers receive federal funding to charge patients on a sliding scale and ensure that people who can’t pay for care still receive it.
Fair Hill will first seek to qualify as an FQHC “look-alike,” which provides similar services but does not receive the federal funding earmarked for FQHCs, said David DeMilio, Fair Hill Community Physicians’ CEO.
The organization aims to provide a number of different services in a single place for patients who can’t afford visits to multiple practices, or who have a hard time finding transportation to doctors’ offices.
“It’s the idea of trying to meet patients where they are,” DeMilio said.
The six Temple practices transferring to Fair Hill currently only provide primary care, said Steven Carson, Temple’s senior vice president of population health. As FQHC look-alikes, they will be able to provide behavioral health care, dental care, gynecological care, and other services.
awhelan@inquirer.com
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