With federal cuts in sight, Community Health and Wellness Center boosts fundraising efforts

NORFOLK – A northwest Connecticut healthcare provider serving thousands of rural patients is preparing for anticipated federal Medicaid cuts by launching new fundraising efforts and searching for additional revenue sources to help offset rising financial pressure.

Joanne Borduas, chief executive officer of the Community Health and Wellness Center (CHWC), discussed the potential local impact during a talk Wednesday, May 20, at the Norfolk Hub.

CHWC, which is headquartered in Torrington and has offices in North Canaan and Winsted, provides primary, behavioral and dental care. It also runs school-based health centers in the Torrington public schools and throughout Region One, including Housatonic Valley Regional High School, North Canaan Elementary School, Sharon Center School, and, soon, Salisbury Central School.

Borduas said CHWC and other nonprofit health care providers are anticipating approximately $80 billion in cuts to federal Medicaid spending beginning in January 2027.

Federal funds currently cover roughly 18% of CHWC’s operating costs.

“After that, we have to make it work, just like any other business,” Borduas said.

Additional revenue comes from billing private insurance and from grants.

“We have razor-thin margins,” she said. “So we look at expenses and at new sources of revenue.”

To help sustain services amid anticipated funding cuts, CHWC recently established a fundraising department led by Kelly Baxter Spitz.

“Philanthropy has never been a part of this, but it is now,” Borduas said.

The organization is not starting from scratch. Borduas said CHWC has secured two grants from medical technology company BD, which manufactures medical devices at its North Canaan facility, and also partners with the Walgreens in North Canaan to offer discounted prescriptions to qualifying patients.

Borduas said CHWC has 7,500 patients, many of whom are uninsured or underinsured and deviate from stereotypes often associated with poverty.

“Today the face of Medicaid has changed,” Borduas said. She said she knows several single parents whose employers do not provide health insurance.

Apologizing for using yet another acronym, Borduas said many of CHWC’s clients fall into the “asset limited, income constrained, employed,” or ALICE, category — working households that earn above the poverty line but still struggle to afford basic necessities.

She said obtaining insurance through the Affordable Care Act exchange isn’t necessarily a viable option, with only two insurance providers participating in the Connecticut exchange, and premiums recently tripled.

Borduas said the CHWC team is focused on finding solutions to the current challenges, and never turning anyone away.

“Every day we have to get creative about how to do the next day’s work,” she said.

Lakeville resident Janet Lynn suggested handing out CHWC brochures at food pantries and observed that in her experience, many northwest Connecticut residents are unaware of the organization and how it can help them.

Borduas said CHWC works closely with food pantries and even maintains food supplies at its three locations.

As for publicity, she said events such as the May 20 talk and a January “town hall” at the Colonial Theater in North Canaan are one way of getting the word out.

Still, she said there is more work to do. “It’s been a challenge getting the word out.”