Stimulate US with services for newly uninsured in SF Bay Area

With unemployment often comes the problem of being uninsured, and money from the federal stimulus package is finding its way to help those newly uninsured at community health centers in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Community health centers in San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties have received more than $650,000 in federal economic stimulus money to support and expand services, according to a story in the San Mateo Times.

"Our community health centers serve those who are in need, and these grants will allow them to expand the critical services they provide to our community," Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, said in a statement on her Web site. "With California's unemployment rate at 10.5%, and predictions that it will be above 12% next spring, it's more important than ever to help the newly uninsured."

A spokeswoman for the San Mateo County Health Services Agency told the newspaper that it will use the $180,182 it is getting to "expand services and extend hours to meet the dental needs of homeless children and adults."

The Ravenswood Family Health Center in East Palo Alto will receive $236,533 and will use it to hire a new physician, nurse practitioner or physician's assistant to increase staffing for its chronic disease management team.