Las Animas Mayor Lawrence Sena signed a proclamation declaring the week of Aug. 8 - Aug. 14 as “National Health Center Week.” The proclamation reads:
America’s community health centers are at the core of our health care system and the nation’s safety net, providing comprehensive primary care to all who seek their care, regardless of ability to pay. Community health centers also have a demonstrated ability to deliver high-quality, cost effective and affordable care. This year is the the 45th anniversary of the Health Centers Program.
Today health centers serve more than 20 million people each year, in over 8,000 rural and urban communities in every state and territory. Each health center is as unique as the patients it serves. Health centers also bear similarities across the country: they generally provide savings to the government and produce economic benefits and jobs, keep patients out of emergency rooms, manage care, and improve the health of their patents and their communities.
Health centers offer patient-focused, coordinated health care – preventive and primary care that families and individuals need, where and when they need it. Health center patients receive health education, enrollment assistance and case management services in addition to comprehensive primary medical and dental care. Translation services, pre- and postnatal care, and help with fitness and healthier eating are also regular features of health centers.
There have been significant investments in the Health Centers Program. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) provided for more than a hundred new health center sites and the construction, renovation and expansion of thousands more. ARRA has allowed health centers to serve new patients, to improve and upgrade sites and to create and retain sites in local communities. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) built on these investments; health centers are now positioned to double their capacity in the next five years to allow them to serve additional patients – a total of 40 million – by 2015. This will enable health centers to reach thousands of new communities and improve access to health care services at existing health centers.
National Health Center Week offers the opportunity to recognize America’s health centers and health centers across the state of Colorado, their staff and board members. It is also a chance for us to look forward to the coming years as the nation’s community health centers turn the vision of health reform into a reality.
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Las Animas Mayor Lawrence Sena signed a proclamation declaring the week of Aug. 8 - Aug. 14 as “National Health Center Week.” The proclamation reads:
America’s community health centers are at the core of our health care system and the nation’s safety net, providing comprehensive primary care to all who seek their care, regardless of ability to pay. Community health centers also have a demonstrated ability to deliver high-quality, cost effective and affordable care. This year is the the 45th anniversary of the Health Centers Program.
Today health centers serve more than 20 million people each year, in over 8,000 rural and urban communities in every state and territory. Each health center is as unique as the patients it serves. Health centers also bear similarities across the country: they generally provide savings to the government and produce economic benefits and jobs, keep patients out of emergency rooms, manage care, and improve the health of their patents and their communities.
Health centers offer patient-focused, coordinated health care – preventive and primary care that families and individuals need, where and when they need it. Health center patients receive health education, enrollment assistance and case management services in addition to comprehensive primary medical and dental care. Translation services, pre- and postnatal care, and help with fitness and healthier eating are also regular features of health centers.
There have been significant investments in the Health Centers Program. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) provided for more than a hundred new health center sites and the construction, renovation and expansion of thousands more. ARRA has allowed health centers to serve new patients, to improve and upgrade sites and to create and retain sites in local communities. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) built on these investments; health centers are now positioned to double their capacity in the next five years to allow them to serve additional patients – a total of 40 million – by 2015. This will enable health centers to reach thousands of new communities and improve access to health care services at existing health centers.
National Health Center Week offers the opportunity to recognize America’s health centers and health centers across the state of Colorado, their staff and board members. It is also a chance for us to look forward to the coming years as the nation’s community health centers turn the vision of health reform into a reality.
