FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Amy Simmons Farber, 202 309-0338
BETHESDA, MD —Community Health Center leaders will discuss the urgent need for lawmakers to pass sustainable funding for the Community Health Center Fund (CHCF) at a virtual news briefing on Monday, September 18, at 1 p.m. ET. The briefing, hosted by the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC), comes as House lawmakers are scheduled to consider The Lower Costs, More Transparency Act (H.R. 5378), and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions is set to consider the Bipartisan Primary Care and Health Workforce Act.
Both bills extend and increase funding for the more than 1,400 health centers nationwide that provide care to more than 31 million patients nationwide, including 8.8 million children. The bills also extend and increase funding for key primary care workforce programs – the National Health Service Corps and the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education – that are essential to building a strong health care workforce and addressing provider shortages in underserved areas.
Unless Congress acts, funding for health centers and these workforce programs will expire on September 30, 2023. Health center leaders will discuss how the funding uncertainty is already affecting health centers’ operations and creating disruptions in hiring and planning services for patients.
WHO:
- Paloma Izquierdo-Hernandez, MS, MPH, NACHC Board Chair, President & CEO of Urban Health Plan, Inc., (UHP), Bronx, NY
- Kyu Rhee, MD, MPP, President and CEO, NACHC
- Mike R. Taylor, CEO of Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center, New Haven, CT
- Deborah Morrison, Board Chair, Roanoke Chowan Community Health Center, Ahoskie, NC
- Joe Dunn, Senior VP, Public Policy and Research, NACHC
WHAT: Virtual Press Briefing
WHEN: Monday, September 18th 1 p.m. ET
Register in advance via the link above or contact Bryan Mason, NACHC Communications Specialist, at bmason@nachc.org
About National Association of Community Health Centers
Established in 1971, the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) serves as the leading national voice for America’s Health Centers and as an advocate for health care access for the medically underserved and uninsured.