Elected officials across the country will join communities in celebrating National Health Center Week from Aug. 4 to 10. Their visits and messages to community health centers will demonstrate that not only is it possible to move beyond the partisan divide over health care, but to support and agree on a program vital to our communities.

In Western New York, the federally qualified health center movement and reach includes that of five nonprofit organizations serving more than 82,000 patients at 16 sites across five counties.
Federally qualified health centers and other community health centers provide preventive and primary care services to 28 million people nationwide. Without them, we cannot curb health care costs and protect communities from preventable diseases.

Community health centers provide care to people who disproportionately suffer from chronic disease and lack access to affordable, quality care. While our approach is community-based and local, collectively we generate a nationwide ripple effect.

Nationally, community health centers on average save more than $2,300 (24%) per Medicaid patient — including drastic cost savings in emergency department and hospital utilization visits. They also reduce chronic diseases and stimulate local economies.

At Neighborhood Health Center, our model of care works by treating the whole person with a wide range of services, all located under one roof. Along with our primary care services (such as family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology and dental health), our integrated care system also includes pharmacy services, behavioral health, nutritional services and podiatry.

With more than 60 medical, dental and social work providers, Neighborhood Health Center is currently the primary care home to more than 25,000 Western New Yorkers.

This year’s National Health Center Week theme, “Celebrating America’s Health Centers: Rooted in Communities,” highlights how community health centers are at the forefront of a nationwide shift in addressing environmental and social factors as an integral part of primary care, reaching beyond the walls of conventional medicine to address the factors that may cause sickness, such as lack of nutrition, mental illness, homelessness and substance use disorders and more.

During National Health Center Week, I invite you to join us in this movement as we work to address environmental, social and medical issues, thereby protecting communities from preventable illness.

Stop by a local health center near you to learn more about the wide range of services and programs that are provided. We look forward to seeing you.

Another Voice: Community Health Centers Deliver a New Model of Care was published in the Saturday, August 2, 2019 issue of The Buffalo News.