The Collin County Observer™

Collin County grants require some data on patients
Collin tells clinics grant funds can't be spent on illegal immigrants

Saturday, December 1, 2007
By ED HOUSEWRIGHT / The Dallas Morning News

When Collin County commissioners awarded almost $300,000 in grants to nonprofit health care agencies this year, the money came with strings attached.

Clinics were told they can't spend the money to treat illegal immigrants. They also were ordered to report patients' personal information, such as name, age, address, medical diagnosis and the last four digits of each person's Social Security number.

Now, some clinics are balking, saying the requirements – a first in the five-year history of the grant program – are forcing them to violate patient confidentiality rules and play the role of immigration officer.

One recipient, the Children and Community Health Center of McKinney, already has rejected its $30,000 grant, and others may follow.

"We are not going to release information that will tie patients directly to a diagnosis code or the clinic," board member Michael Mixson recently told county commissioners. "That's protected health information."

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