PRINCETON, NJ — Princeton recently adopted a resolution wherein they reduced the amount paid to Capital Health System for the 2024 Healthy Child/Well Baby Clinic.
The program budget was $35,000 and has now been adjusted to $24,000.
However, this does not mean any services are being eliminated or curtailed. The move comes after Municipality officials evaluated the program and discovered lower-than-expected usage.
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In a memo to Council, Health Officer and Deputy Administrator Jeffrey Grosser, said usage of the program decreased mainly due to the expansion of other programs like Cover All Kids in 2023 and the recent establishment of Zufall Health Center at Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center.
“Cover All Kids is a program that extends health insurance coverage to all income-eligible, uninsured children in New Jersey under the age of 19. In January of 2023, the program was expanded to include all income-eligible children, regardless of their immigration status,” Grosser explained.
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“Historically, the Child Health Conference program in Princeton has been most utilized by undocumented children who do not have access to health insurance and need immunizations to be eligible to attend Princeton schools. The expansion of Cover All Kids has now enabled this same population to obtain health insurance, leading to decreased demand for the program.”
Meanwhile, the Zufall Health Center at Penn Medicine Princeton Health campus in Plainsboro provides comprehensive health services to uninsured and underinsured patients, regardless of immigration status.
“With Zufall now having a local presence, individuals who previously sought care under the Child Health Conferences program may choose to go to Zufall, since they also serve adults at this location,” Grosser said.
Although the Municipality currently reduced the amount to be paid, this can change in the future when there is a demand. The Municipality will reassess the situation and allocate more Health Department funding to the program’s budget, Grosser said.
Councilman Leighton Newlin praised Grosser for making this suggestion to the council and called it “good management.”
“Jeff Grosser is watching how we spend our money and what he noticed was that we could better redirect our resources from one place to another. And that’s why this $11,000 has been moved,” Newlin said.
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