HomeMy WebLinkAboutFMC Additional AttachmentAdditional Narrative on Budget
A notice about ARPA Funds and our Renovation Project:
The Iowa City Free Medical & Dental Clinic has been awarded 1 million dollars from Iowa City and $300,000.00 from Johnson County in ARPA Funds/Capacity Building Grants.
These funds will go towards a major renovation of our facility which will support our work to meet the growing demand for our services. Some funds have already been expended during
our design and preparation phase and construction should start no later than January 2025. We anticipate the funds to be used between now and December 2025 if not sooner. As such,
use of the funds will span multiple fiscal years. The funds were awarded in FY 23 and need to be expended by January, 2026.
As this budget will span multiple fiscal years and is outside of our regular operating costs, I kept both the ARPA revenue and expenses out of the budget reporting for this application
in order to provide a clearer and more accurate picture of our finances.
A note on budget changes over the past three years, particularly an increase in expenses and a decrease in operating margin:
The increase in our expenses from FY 23 – FY 24 & FY 25 is attributed to a rise in operational and personnel expenses as we work to respond to increased demand for our services. As mentioned
in other parts of this application, over the past three years, we've seen an increase in both patient volume and the complexity of patients’ health needs. Many of these patients have
chronic conditions that have worsened due to lack of insurance coverage. Since 2022, our patient population has increased 8%overall; however, we’ve had a 21% increase in the number
of patient visits and a 38% increase in the number of issues being addressed at each of these appointments. With the loss of Medicaid expansion and Mercy Hospital over the past 18 months,
demand has only increased.
As we continue to navigate the ever-changing world of healthcare, we have found that we needed to both grow our staff andexpand our benefits package in order to attract and retain quality
staff. To do this, we expanded to include health insurance coverage for staff families, now offer a 401 K plan and expanded paid time off to staff, all of which has been a costly investment.
We found we needed to do this to stay competitive in the current health workforce market and we are dedicated to remaining a competitive employer and providing our workers with the
compensation they need. To support these changes, we hired our first Development Director in 2024 and look forward to working with her as she continues to expand and strengthen our donor
base.
Note on increase in Clinic Operating Costs FY 24
In addition, the spike in Clinic Operating Costs in FY 24 is due to the installation of Solar Panels, which was funded by donations from Iowa City Noon Downtown Rotary and is an expense
that will not repeat in the future.
We appreciate your consideration of our increased funding request. I hope this helps explain the context in which that increased request has been made. Thank you.