OneWorld Community Health Centers, Inc. (OneWorld) is a 501(c)(3), nonprofit organization that began as a free clinic in 1970 and was initially run by volunteer physicians. Since receiving section 330(e) funding in 2001, OneWorld has amplified its breadth of services and the number of patients served. Nearly half of OneWorld’s patients (49%) are uninsured and more than 90% live at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level, and lack the resources to receive adequate medical, dental and behavioral health/substance abuse services.
OneWorld provides comprehensive health care that cross the lifespan. Services provided to meet key community health care needs that include prenatal care, pediatrics, family practice, internal medicine and geriatrics. OneWorld has an onsite nurse midwifery program; is a preceptor site for three residency programs specializing in family medicine, pediatrics, and obstetrics and gynecology; and utilizes a cadre of volunteer physicians who provide specialty care to our patients. Other services provided include behavioral health/substance abuse; dental; mobile dental van; Cass Family Medicine – a rural satellite clinic; pharmacy; vision; radiology; ultrasound; chronic disease management; Woman, Infant, Child (WIC) supplemental feeding program; a health window at the Mexican Consulate; onsite assistance with enrollment in Medicaid; social services; three school-based health centers; and multiple outreach locations.
OneWorld is located in the heart of a large Hispanic community on the southeastern side of Omaha, Douglas County, Nebraska. For more than a century, southeastern Omaha has welcomed new immigrants to work in its world famous Stockyards. From the Czechs, Germans and Irish who came in the early part of the 20th century, to Mexicans and other Latin Americans in the last 20 years generations of new Americans have found work and a home in South Omaha. Employment and financial success peaked from 1955 to 1968 when the Omaha (Nebraska) Stockyards were known as “World’s Largest Stockyard.” The Stockyards officially ended operations in 1999, and today, the area around it is called the Stockyards Business Park. Nonetheless, meat packing remains and other entry-level industries remain large employers in the area and multiple plants continue to operate within two miles of the Park.
The crown jewel of the Stockyards operation was the Livestock Exchange Building, built in 1925.For more than a century, southeastern Omaha has welcomed new immigrants to work in its world famous Stockyards.
This building, the only remaining structure from the former era on the site, has been restored for businesses and apartments. In September 2005, OneWorld moved from a space in a strip mall to a larger, state-of-the-art facility in the Livestock Exchange Building. This truly historic and magnificent building serves as a backdrop to the environment in which OneWorld offers its services.
The historic Livestock Exchange Building features OneWorld on the first three floors, affordable housing units on floors 4 through 9, and two large ballrooms leased by a catering company on the 10th floor where social events and fundraisers are held.
Since moving to its current location in 2005, OneWorld has experienced tremendous growth. The number of unduplicated users grew from 9,331 in 2005 to 18,387 in 2009, an increase of 50.7%. Today, in 2016, the health center seves nearly 38,000 people.
In 2006 and 2007, OneWorld expanded services to include children, adolescents, young women, mothers, and the elderly by receiving an Expanded Medical Capacity Grants and private support. Additionally, OneWorld opened a Quick Sick clinic onsite in 2007, onsite radiology, onsite ultrasound, and the Caremobile® (mobile dental van). In September of 2007, OneWorld received a New Access Point Grant which enabled OneWorld to open a satellite clinic, Cass Family Medicine, in Plattsmouth, Nebraska.
In August of 2008, OneWorld received two additional HRSA Expanded Medical Capacity awards – one to expand behavioral health services and one to expand oral health services.
In June of 2009, OneWorld received notification of receipt of ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) funds to support the renovation of areas within our main location in the Historic Livestock Exchange Building. Renovation included pharmacy, a portion of the medical clinic on the second floor and purchase of specific equipment, and construction of a data center in the lower level of the building.
Data center construction marked the continuation of a partnership led by OneWorld with Charles Drew Health Center and the Council Bluffs Community Health Center, two federally qualified health centers in the Omaha metropolitan area. This partnership, called the Heartland Community Health Network, was formed with receipt of an Integrated Service Delivery Initiative grant (ISDI) in 2005. As the federal support was eliminated, the three community health centers continued to meet and share work of common interest. With the receipt of ARRA support, the three health centers have solidified their partnership through a Memorandum of Agreement to establish an Electronic Health Record Network. Building on OneWorld’s expertise and implementation, OneWorld is assisting Charles Drew, Council Bluffs (Iowa) People’s, Norfolk Community Health Centers in Nebraska with acquiring, implementing, and managing an Electronic Health Record System.
In September of 2009, OneWorld received notification of receipt of a CHIPRA (Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act Program) Outreach and Enrollment Program grant through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). This grant enabled OneWorld to establish a program built on a Promotora (an outreach worker in a Hispanic community who is responsible for raising awareness of health/educational issues) model that encompasses a results-driven outreach and public education campaign, with outcomes tied to actual enrollment and retention of children in Medicaid/SCHIP.
Also in September of 2009, OneWorld received notification of an Expanded Medical Capacity Grant for pharmacy services.To ensure data integrity, OneWorld employs an integrated health information technology system that includes electronic medical and dental records.
A nonprofit contract pharmacy was initiated with Health Resources and Services Administration Healthy Communities Access Program grant funds in 2002. The receipt of federal funds for pharmacy capital improvement through the ARRA funds and the Expanded Medical Capacity grant for pharmacy combined with a change in the direction of the contract nonprofit pharmacy led OneWorld to negotiate the transfer of the contract pharmacy to OneWorld’s corporate status effective January 1, 2010. The pharmacy fills prescriptions for OneWorld patients, patients of Council Bluffs Community Health Center (located just across the river in Iowa) and some free standing clinics in the community. The pharmacy began filling 30 prescriptions a week in 2003 and today fills 70,000 prescriptions a year; including prescriptions filled through enrollment in pharmacy assistance programs for the indigent, 340B medications and generic medicines.
OneWorld’s quality improvement (QI) initiatives have included participation in the Bureau of Primary Health Care’s (BPHC) Health Disparities Collaborative and achieving Joint Commission accreditation. OneWorld has developed numerous dashboard indicators that are measured at appropriate intervals and a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) that is revised annually. To ensure data integrity, OneWorld employs an integrated health information technology system that includes electronic medical and dental records.
In 2018, the health center served 46,000 people, providing visits for medical visits, dental, behavioral health and patient support/enabling contacts.
