What is a Community Health Center?
Health centers are consumer-driven and patient-centered organizations that serve as a comprehensive and cost-effective primary health care option for America’s most underserved communities.
Health centers serve everyone regardless of ability to pay or insurance status. They increase access to health care and provide integrated care services based on the unique needs of the communities they serve. Health centers deliver value to and have a significant impact on America’s healthcare system.
They also:
- Serve as the health care home for more than 29 million patients in over 12,000 communities across the country,
- Reduce health care costs and produce savings – on average, health centers save 24% per Medicaid patient when compared to other providers,
- Integrate critical medical and social services such as oral health, mental health, substance abuse, case management, and translation under one roof,
- Employ more than 235,000 people and generate at least $54.6 billion in total economic activity in some of the nation’s most distressed communities, and;
- Provide care to 1.4 million homeless patients and more than 385,000 veterans.
Need to find your nearest CHC?
Use the HRSA tool on this page - just add your location (city, street or zip) and hit search.
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