LPCA Membership Services Program



Donald R. Hunter, MPA
Membership Services Coordinator  

Welcome to the Membership Services Home Page,

Over the past decade, the Louisiana Primary Care Association (LPCA) and Louisiana’s Health Centers (LHCs) have labored to insure that Louisiana ’s medically indigent and uninsured populations receive accessible, high quality, comprehensive and affordable primary and preventive care services while enduring some of this nation’s most adverse economic and socioeconomic circumstances. For example, twenty-two percent (22%) of Louisiana ’s population live in families with incomes below the Federal Poverty Level, second highest in the nation. Forty six percent (46%) of Louisiana ’s residents have incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty level, the highest rate among the states. 

In November of 2000, the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, Office of Public Health presented before the Subcommittee on Health and Education, its' plan to close 25 public health units throughout the state. The implementation of this plan began concurrently with an announcement from the Office of Public Health that reductions in state appropriations necessitate a downsizing of the department. The decision to reengineer the health care service delivery system had a projected impact of affecting 45% or 2 million of Louisiana ’s then 4,468,976 residents according to 2000 Census Data. Because of such indicators, LPCA and LHCs have intensified their efforts in advocating the reformation of Louisiana ’s health care infrastructure with federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) at the helm, in regards to primary health care services. 

Currently, the state has 18 FQHC core sites and a total of 39 including satellites; however, this does not sufficiently cover Louisiana ’s 64 parishes. Rhonda Litt, Executive Director, Louisiana Primary Care Association, along with LPCA's Board President, Dodie LaMott and other fellow Members have made, and continue to make efforts through presentations and reports to the Senate Health and Welfare Committee, State Legislators, the Legislative Black Caucus, and other policy-making consitutents to get appropriations that are needed to assist in the establishment of new FQHCs and to expand the capacity of existing sites. 

Moreover, LPCA provides technical support services for member FQHCs in the areas of Recruitment and Retention, Quality Improvement, Marketing, Advocacy and User Base Growth. Therefore, we invite you to join us in our efforts to eradicate primary care disparities in the state of Louisiana.

Sincerely,

Donald Hunter, MPA 
Membership Services Coordinator