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Community Health Centers (CHCs) Wrestle with Rising Demand
More Patients – Primarily Uninsured – Being Seen

Despite federal funding increases, Community Health Centers (CHCs) – the backbone of the nation's safety net – are struggling to meet rising demand for care, particularly for specialty medical, dental and mental health services, according to a recent report by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC).

Nationally, more than 16 million patients – mainly minorities, low income, uninsured, or covered by Medicaid – received care at over 1,100 Federally Qualified and "look-alike" Health Centers in 2006, up from slightly more than 10 million in 2001, according to the federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).

To view results of the HSC study (by Robert E. Hurley, Laurie E. Felland, and Johanna Lauer), CLICK HERE.