In 2001, the St. Louis Regional Health Commission (RHC) was created to ensure access to health care for the uninsured and underinsured in St. Louis City and County. For the past 10 years, we have met our mission by providing health care coverage for nearly 64,000 uninsured adults in the St. Louis region, in partnership with our local community health centers, hospitals and medical schools, through a program called Gateway to Better Health (Gateway). Since the implementation of the Gateway to Better Health program in 2012, the program has provided:·
- Access to coverage for more than 63,779 otherwise uninsured St. Louis area residents;
- More than 288,500 primary care and dental visits;
- Over 1.3 million medications to manage chronic conditions and other diseases;
- Nearly 57,000 specialty care visits;
- More than 316,800 diagnostic tests, procedures and ancillary services; and
- More than 31,200 urgent care visits.
Gateway was designed to be a temporary bridge for uninsured adults until better coverage options became available through Medicaid expansion or transformation.
After years of waiting, on August 4, 2020, the residents of Missouri rose to the challenge to become the change we seek and passed Medicaid expansion in Missouri. Medicaid expansion will provide access to health care for an additional 230,000 hardworking Missourians, keep hospitals open, create jobs and promote economic growth. This change also brings us one step closer to health equity as we continue to battle COVID-19 and racism. Although this vote foreshadows the end of Gateway, we are happy to see long-term, sustainable health care options for our communities. While our work may shift, our commitment to increasing healthcare access and improving health outcomes, while reducing health disparities among St. Louis City and County residents, remains unwavering. We look forward to your continued partnership as the RHC charts a new course for the work ahead. Stay tuned!
“Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”
Barack Obama
Angela Fleming Brown
CEO, St. Louis Regional Health Commission