Northborough – In an effort to save money and provide better health care services, Northborough has teamed up with neighboring local communities to apply for a grant from the Department of Public Health.
The Public Health District Incentive Grant Program is available through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 and will select 8 to 10 regions to receive hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding. Northborough is grouped with Auburn, Boylston, Grafton, Holden, Leicester, Millbury, Shrewsbury, West Boylston and Worcester in its pursuit of funding.
Jamie Terry, the health agent for Northborough, is eager to research the possibilities.
“If awarded this planning grant,” Terry said, “the 12 involved communities would gather information and assess whether or not this type of a public health system would be beneficial for each community.”
According to the Health and Human Services web page at mass.gov, the regionalization initiative will improve the scope and quality of local public health services in Massachusetts, and “achieve optimal results with available resources for protecting and promoting health and preventing injury and disease.”
By the end of March, the Department of Public Health will determine the grant winners, and funding would cover research from April 1 to September 1. During that time period, Metrowest will decide if regionalized health care is the right choice.
