The health care reform bill that passed earlier this year is having a direct impact on the quality of available health care in Loudoun county. Contained within the bill was a provision providing over $8 million to the Loudoun Committee Health Center, aka Cornwall medical center in Leesburg.

The Loudoun Community Health Center found out Oct. 8 that it has been awarded $8.7 million in federal grant money to build a new facility.

It is one of 143 community health centers across the country to be awarded funds to address pressing construction and renovation needs and expand access to quality health care.

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The Loudoun Community Health Center opened in 2007 in the old Loudoun Hospital on Cornwall Street in Leesburg in space donated by Inova Loudoun Hospital. It provides medical, dental and mental health care to those in need, regardless of age or ability to pay, whether they have insurance or not. Since opening, more than 6,000 patients have been cared for at the Loudoun Community Health Center, but with limited space, the wait list continues to grow.

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“In short, we have reached a limit that prevents us from keeping up with the overwhelming demand for our services.”

Kenyon said the facility receives between 400 and 500 calls a day from patients and those wanting to establish care with the center.

The new 25,000 square foot building plans include 18 exam rooms, 10 dental operatories, a full on-site pharmacy, optometry, mental health counseling rooms, patient education meeting rooms and prenatal services. It is anticipated that the new facility will enable the Loudoun Community Health Center to expand from its current annual patient base of 5,000 to more than 12,000 patients and will create dozens of jobs locally.

– The Loudoun Times

You may recall that earlier this year, Cornwall was awarded a grant under the Recovery Act. That means that under President Obama and the Democratic Congress, Leesburg and Loudoun have seen a significant $10 million investment in our local ability to provide health care to people who would otherwise not be able to get it outside of expensive (for us) emergency room care. And that’s just the benefit of the services themselves. That doesn’t count the jobs created and money spent by those employees that boost the local economy.

Great news, and well done. Congratulations Cornwall! You’ve come a long way from being threatened with closure if BRMC was built.

 (I will save for another time the discussion of why a story about a grant that would allow healthcare coverage to expand to 12,000 of our neediest neighbors would be buried on page A5, in small type, nearly hidden by ads. Suffice it to say that layout is an Editorial decision at the Times-Mirror and stories about government money helping poor people get medical care and creating jobs don’t quite fit the “right” narrative.)