Clinic Consortia Policy Advocacy: Increasing Clinic Financial Stability

Clinic financial stability, or having the financial ability to meet the needs of underserved patient populations through the delivery of high-quality services, is a struggle in the face of budget constraints and an increasing number of uninsured. The 19 consortia grantees funded by The California Endowment successfully increased their financial and operational stability and that of their member community clinics. Grantees were successful despite several challenges, including an uncertain funding environment (as evidenced by a recovering state economy and public cutbacks at the federal level) as well as funding needs that vary widely by clinics. From 2001-2005, grantees increased the amount of funding secured on behalf of clinics and consortia by a total of $505 million. Multiple strategies were used simultaneously to achieve clinic financial stability, including funding diversification, developing relationships with private sector funders, and engaging in policy advocacy to maintain or increase funding, such as federal 330-clinic expansion grants. Grantees have demonstrated significant capacity to meet the challenges of an uncertain funding environment. Their ability to expand into areas and activities new to them has greatly benefited their member clinics, clinic target populations, while contributing to grantee sustainability. In this presentation, we will review the changes in financial stability and sustainability of consortia and their member clinics through the analysis of secured funding from 2001-2005, as well as the strategies undertaken by clinic consortia to secure this funding.