<100,000 ServedThe first Community Health Centers (then called “Neighborhood Health Centers”) are funded as demonstration programs under the federal Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO).
500,000 ServedThe National Association of Neighborhood Health Centers (NACHC) is created by early community health leaders to provide education, training and technical assistance to health center staff and Board Members.
1 Million ServedAfter operating for 10 years as a demonstration program, the Community Health Centers Program is authorized under Section 330 of the Public Service Act (PHS).
4.5 Million ServedThe Reagan Administration’s “New Federalism” calls for dramatic restructuring of the federal-state relationship and proposes to block grant.
5 Million ServedHealth centers rally bipartisan support in Congress to repeal the primary care block grant and return the Health Center Program to a direct federal-local partnership base and to increase health center funding.
6.5 Million ServedCongress designates Federal Qualified Health Center (FQHC) status to all federally funded health centers.
8.6 Million ServedHealth Centers confront threats to their financial viability as pressures grow to reduce federal spending and dismantle and block grant numerous social programs, including Medicaid.
10.7 Million ServedSupporters in Congress stave off the phase out of Medicaid FQHC payments and establish a Prospective Payment System to prevent revenue losses to health centers.
15.6 Million ServedPresident George W. Bush fulfills a campaign pledge calling for a five-year Health Center Expansion Initiative.
16 Million ServedWith the spiraling national debt, pressures intensify to rein in spending and reform Medicaid.
The Health Care Safety Net ActHealth Centers are featured in a New York Times article as a cost-effective, bipartisan program that reduces health care costs and narrows health disparities.
20 MILLION ServedWith investment from ARRA and the ACA, health centers become the largest primary care network in the country – expanding into some 9,300 medically underserved communities.
23 MILLION ServedHealth Centers serve more than 23 million patients -- one out of every 15 Americans.
24 MILLION and GrowingCommunity Health Centers mark the 50th Anniversary of the Health Center Movement
Community Health Centers
America’s Health Centers owe their existence to a remarkable turn of events in U.S. history, and to a number of determined community health and civil rights activists who fought more than 50 years ago to improve the lives of Americans living in deep poverty and in desperate need of health care.
Among those determined to change these conditions was H. Jack Geiger, then a young doctor and civil rights activist who, while studying in South Africa, witnessed how a unique community-based health care model had brought about astonishing health improvements for the poorest citizens of that country.
Moving on the opportunity presented by President Lyndon B. Johnson’s major War on Poverty initiatives in the early 1960s, Dr. Geiger and other health care pioneers submitted proposals to the federal Office of Economic Opportunity to establish health centers in medically underserved inner city and rural areas of the country based on the same health care model Geiger had studied in South Africa. Funding for the first two “Neighborhood Health Centers” (as they were then called) – one in Boston, Massachusetts, and the other in Mound Bayou, Mississippi – was approved in 1965, and the Community Health Centers Program was launched.
The health center model that emerged targeted the roots of poverty by combining the resources of local communities with federal funds to establish neighborhood clinics in both rural and urban areas around America. It was a formula that not only empowered communities to establish and direct health services at the local level via consumer-majority governing boards, but also generated compelling proof that affordable and accessible health care produced compounding benefits.
Community Health Centers serve as the primary medical home for more than 28 million people in over 11,000 rural and urban communities across America. These community-based “family doctors” enjoy longstanding bipartisan support by Administrations and policymakers at all levels, as well as in both the private and public sectors.
For photos, stories and more information on the history of America’s Health Centers visit the CHC Chronicles.
For information on the Community Health Center Alumni Association (CHCAA) and related events visit the CHCAA.