Rep. Mike Honda (D-San Jose) visited the Gilroy Neighborhood
Clinic on Friday to celebrate the passage of new federal health
care legislation and to find out more about how the new law could
support the clinic.
Rep. Mike Honda (D-San Jose) visited the Gilroy Neighborhood Clinic on Friday to celebrate the passage of new federal health care legislation and to find out more about how the new law could support the clinic.
Two provisions in the law provide support for school-based health centers like the one at 7861 Murray Ave. Those include $200 million in emergency funding and $50 million over five years for the start-up, expansion and maintenance of school-based health centers.
A House appropriations bill, which will give more specifics about how that money is spent, will likely come out some time in the fall, said Ashley Roybal, a congressional aide for Honda.
Gilroy Neighborhood Clinic opened in Gilroy in 2000. It moved to its current site next to South Valley Middle School in 2002.
The clinic offers pediatric care throughout the week as well as adult care one night a week. Patients include undocumented workers and people without insurance, and the clinic allows for drop-in visits.
Sue Lapp, CEO for School Health Clinics of Santa Clara County, which includes the Gilroy Neighborhood Clinic, told Honda on Friday that she hopes the provisions in the new law will translate into more funding for local school-based health centers.
“We’re eagerly hoping that that legislation brings in more dollars,” she said.
