(Radio Iowa) – Three more clinics in rural Iowa are being reclassified as “Federally Qualified Health Centers” — making them eligible for higher government reimbursement rates when treating Medicare and Medicaid patients. The Spencer Hospital operates clinics in Hartley, Milford and Sioux Rapids. The hospital’s board of trustees has voted to rebrand the clinics as “Access Health” and convert them to Federally Qualified Health Centers, also known as Community Health Centers. The move is expected to save the hospital 200-thousand dollars annually.

Not only will the three northwest Iowa clinics get higher reimbursement rates for treating patients enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid, there are federal grants available as well. The program, created in 1990, is meant to ensure health care services are available for uninsured and underserved residents in urban and rural areas.

Government records indicate there are 86 Community Health Centers in Iowa. Officials expect to complete the process of converting the clinics in Hartley, Milford and Sioux Rapids to Community Health Centers in August.