February 2023: Over 100 million Americans face barriers to accessing primary care, according to a new study, Closing the Primary Care Gap: How Community Health Centers Can Address the Nation’s Primary Care Crisis, by NACHC and HealthLandscape at the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). The estimated number of Americans who are medically disenfranchised—at risk of lacking access to primary care due to an inadequate supply in their local community—has nearly doubled since 2014.
The insufficient number of primary care providers in the United States poses a serious public health threat, leaving nearly one-third of the population vulnerable to preventable chronic diseases and emerging threats like COVID-19 and influenza.
A trend of rural hospital closures and a worsening shortage of primary care providers are driving the crisis, leaving one-third of the U.S. population vulnerable to public health threats and untreated chronic diseases. The report describes America’s medically disenfranchised population and how, with expanded federal resources, Community Health Centers can begin to address gaps in primary care. Join the conversation online about the #PrimaryCareGap.
