Remembering Sen. Ted Kennedy
Spread across 50 states and all U.S. territories, there are 1,250 Community Health Centers that provide vital primary care to 20 million Americans with limited financial resources.
Directed by boards with majority consumer membership, health centers focus on meeting the basic health care needs of their individual communities. Health centers maintain an open-door policy, providing treatment regardless of an individual’s income or insurance coverage.
Health centers serve the homeless, residents of public housing, migrant farm workers and others with emergent and chronic health care needs, but limited resources to secure treatment through traditional channels.
Health centers provide substantial benefits to their communities:
- They serve 20% of low-income, uninsured people.
- 70% of their patients live in poverty.
- They provide comprehensive care, including physical, mental and dental care.
- They save the national health care system between $9.9 billion and $17.6 billion a year by helping patients avoid emergency rooms and making better use of preventive services.
Photo: Nurse Practitioner Cynthia Smith examines patient at Codman Square Health Center, Dorchester, MA.
