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Cabarrus Communit~ HEALTH CENTERS, Ine McGill Medical Center, 202-D McGill Ave, NW, Concord, NC 28025 (704-792-2242) Logan Family Resource Center, 298 Lincoln St. SW, Concord, NC 28025 (704-920-1085) 11-1-06 Mr. John Day, County Manager Cabarrus County PO Box 707 Concord, NC 28027 Dear Mr. Day: I am writing to ask that you arrange for me and other members of the Board of Directors of the Cabarrus Community Health Centers (CCHC) to bring an urgent request to the Board of County Commissioners at its meeting of November 6, 2006 for assistance with a portion of the costs of required renovations at the Centers' McGill Avenue clinic site. Back!!round Information The March 6, 2006 opening of the Cabarrus Community Health Centers marked a milestone in an intense, three-year community effort to extend primary health care to large numbers of our neighbors who do not have access now. This effort became especially crucial with the 2003 closing of PilIowtex, Inc., when some 5,500 persons in the families of workers who lost their jobs suddenly increased the total number of persons in Cabarrus County who were without health insurance by one-third, Cabarrus County, like the nation as a whole, faces a crisis in health care access: · In Cabarrus, 21,507 persons, 16.5% of the population, lacks health insurance of any kind. · Almost all of these 17,494 adults and 4013 children are members of low-income working families. · With annual health insurance costs averaging $4,097 for individual, and $10,570 for family coverage, both employers and workers are increasingly unable to afford health insurance. · Prior to the opening of the CCHC, the community had the capacity to offer health care for the uninsured to only 1,000 persons through the Cabarrus Community Free Clinic, and 1,300 through the grant-assisted Community Care Plan. When fully operational, the CCHC's McGill Medical Center and Logan Family Resource Center will have the capacity to serve 7,400 persons, including many low-income uninsured persons, significantly increasing access to health care for persons most in need. The opening of the CCHC was greatly helped by grants from the North Carolina General Assembly, and by a recurring grant from the federal government's Bureau of Primary Health Care, which cover a portion of the Centers' costs. The City of Concord has contributed the Logan Family Resource Center, the facility which serves as the Logan Community CCHC site. All patients are expected to pay a portion of the cost of their care on a sliding fee basis. Medicaid, Medicare, and G-~