National Campaign Celebrates The Key To Healthier Communities

Over 1,500 events around the country are planned as part of National Health Center Week (NHCW). The national campaign kicks off this week (August 13-19 with the goal of raising awareness about the mission and accomplishments of America’s Health Centers over the course of more than five decades.

There are NHCW events scheduled across the country, including health fairs, visits by Members of Congress and state officials to local health centers, press conferences, back-to-school drives, community breakfasts, patient appreciation events, free health screenings and much more. Each day of NHCW 2017 is dedicated to a particular focus :

• Sunday: Elected Officials Day
• Monday: Health Screenings Day
• Tuesday: Public Housing Health Centers Day
• Wednesday: Health Care for the Homeless Day
• Thursday: Agricultural Worker Health Day
• Friday: Consumer Board Member Day
• Saturday: Children’s Health Day

Learn more about NHCW and the listing of this week’s events

Find out more through Health Center Week’s website. You can also follow the conversation using #NHCW17 and #ValueCHCs on Twitter.

NHCW 2017 is sponsored by AthenaHealth, McKesson, Pfizer RxPathways, Aetna, BKD, Centene, NextGen, OCHIN, Welch Allyn, WellCare, AmeriHealth Caritas, Benco Dental, Community Health Ventures, BD/Direct Relief, eClinical Works, Henry Schein, Merritt Hawkins, and Staff Care.

How do Community Health Centers serve more than 25 million?

One of the bright spots in America’s health care system, Community Health Centers serve more than 25 million Americans, a number that continues to grow along with the demand for affordable primary care. Health centers have compiled a significant record of success that includes:

• Producing $24 billion in annual health system savings;
• Reducing unnecessary hospitalizations and unnecessary visits to the emergency room;
• Lowering the cost of children’s primary care by approximately 35 percent;
• Treating patients for a fraction of the average cost of one emergency room visit;
• Serving more than one in six Medicaid beneficiaries for less than two percent of the national Medicaid budget.

Health centers not only prevent illness and foster wellness in the most challenging populations, they produce innovative solutions to the most pressing health care issues in their communities. They reach beyond the walls of conventional medicine to address the factors that may cause sickness, such as lack of nutrition, mental illness, homelessness and opioid addiction. Because of their long record of success in innovation, managing health care costs, and reducing chronic disease, health centers have a proud tradition of bipartisan support in Congress.