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Date: Monday, Oct. 6, 1997 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: HRSA Press Office (301)443-3376
"As we mark Childrens Health Day, millions of Americans, including 10 million children, still do not have health insurance," Secretary Shalala said. "Since 1993, we have made significant progress in expanding access to health care to children, including the $24 billion provided for child health as part of the Balanced Budget Act. But we also need to continue using existing programs aggressively and creatively to provide medical care, especially primary care services, to those who do not have access today." (Editors: see note below)
Community health centers, authorized by the Public Health Service Act in 1975, provide comprehensive primary medical care and preventive health services to children and adults without regard for their ability to pay.
Today, more than eight million people are served by 685 health centers nationwide, and 42 percent of those patients are children.
"With these awards for new and improved health centers, we can provide preventive and primary services in 39 areas for an additional 165,000 people who have few other places to turn for health care," Shalala said
The number of uninsured patients seen at health centers rose 46 percent between 1990 and 1996. The centers encourage people to use preventive services so that serious health conditions can be averted or resolved early and quickly. For example, current data show 63 percent of women using the centers have up-to-date mammograms and 88 percent have current pap smears.
"Widespread access to primary health care for the uninsured, underserved people simply cannot be achieved without more health centers and outreach such as the voucher programs," said Claude Earl Fox, M.D., M.P.H., acting administrator of HHS' Health Resources and Service Administration, which supports the national community health centers system. "We are pleased to be able to reach out to these communities."
The voucher program awards went to Massachusetts and Oklahoma, which had no previous federal migrant health programs. The new voucher programs provide health care coordination and outreach, transportation and translation services to migrant and seasonal farm workers. In the voucher program, a nurse conducts a health screening and gives the patient a referral and voucher for direct access to primary health care services at a nearby health center or from a local physician. This service is at no cost to the individual.
The secretary also announced two awards totaling $650,000 to develop statewide voucher programs for seasonal and migrant farm workers in New England and Oklahoma.
Both programs are managed by HRSA, the lead HHS agency for improving access to health care for all Americans.
A list of HRSA's community health center and voucher program award recipients is below.
| Award Recipients | Funding |
|---|---|
| Metropolitan Denver Provider Network, Inc., Aurora, Colo. | $740,750 |
| Community Health Partners, Inc., Livingston, Mont. | 586,644 |
| Shasta Community Health Center, Redding, Calif. | 599,987 |
| Valley-Wide Health Services, Inc., Allmosa, Colo. | 686,350 |
| La Clinica De Familia, Inc., Las Cruces, N.M. | 400,000 |
| Primary Health Network, Sharon, Pa. | 788,633 |
| Sandy River Medical Center, Inc., Axton, Va. | 233,785 |
| Lifelong Medical Care, Berkeley, Calif. | 600,000 |
| Lyon County Community Health Center, Emporia, Kan. | 510,000 |
| White River Rural Health Center, Inc., Augusta, Maine | 602,039 |
| Manatee County Rural Health Services, Inc., Parrish, Fla. | 340,810 |
| Tri-County Medical Center, Inc., Evergreen, Ala. | 369,167 |
| Franklin Memorial Primary Health Center, Inc., Mobile, Ala. | 255,176 |
| North Country Community Health Center, Flagstaff, Ariz. | 600,000 |
| Glenns Ferry Health Center, Inc., Glenns Ferry, Idaho | 144,858 |
| Boston Mountain Rural Health Center, Inc., Marshall, Ark. | 473,130 |
| Hidalgo Medical Services, Lordsburg, N.M. | 468,073 |
| Rochester Primary Care Network, Rochester, N.Y. | 296,875 |
| Centro San Vicente, El Paso, Texas | 450,679 |
| Coastal Family Health Center, Inc., Biloxi, Miss. | 549,441 |
| Siskiyou Community Health Center, Cave Junction, Ore. | 465,166 |
| Caroline Health Sciences, Denton, Md. | 392,803 |
| Sinai Family Health Centers, Chicago, Ill. | 370,108 |
| Centerville, Clinics, Inc., Frederick Town, Pa. | 258,677 |
| Tippecanoe Community Health Clinic, Inc., Lafayette, Ind. | 590,140 |
| Morris Heights Health Center, Bronx, N.Y. | 433,333 |
| Hackley Community Care Center, Muskegon Heights, Mich. | 600,000 |
| Columbus Neighborhood Health Center, Inc., Columbus, Ohio | 600,000 |
| United Methodist Western Kansas Mexican-American Ministries, Garden City, Kan. | 600,000 |
| Eastern Aleutian Tribes, Inc., Anchorage, Alaska | 600,000 |
| Kenosha Community Health Center, Kenosha, Wis. | 125,723 |
| North Hudson Community Action Corporation, West New York, N.J. | 600,000 |
| Cowlitz Family Health Center, Longview, Wash. | 483,176 |
| Scenic Bluffs Health Center, Inc., Cashton, Wis. | 307,895 |
| Holyoke Health Center, Holyoke, Mass. | 533,333 |
| Chiricahua Community Health Center, Inc., Elfrida, Ariz. | 469,673 |
| Neighborhood Health Clinics, Fort Wayne, Ind. | 509,149 |
| Community Action Committee of Pike County, Piketon, Ohio | 307,908 |
| Council Bluffs Community Health Center, Council Bluffs, Iowa | 350,000 |
| TOTAL | $18,293,481 |
| Award Recipients | Funding |
|---|---|
| Massachusetts League Community Health Center, Boston, Mass. | $350,000 |
| Oklahoma Community Health Centers, Inc., Oklahoma City, Okla. | 300,000 |
| TOTAL | $650,000 |