National Health Center Week

Celebrating America’s Health Centers: Innovators in Community Health

National Health Center Week August 7-13, 2016

National Health Center Week has been celebrated for more than 30 years to recognize the services and contributions of Community, Migrant, Homeless and Public Housing Health Centers. While there are countless reasons to celebrate America’s Health Centers, among the most important and unique is their long success in providing access to affordable, high quality, cost effective health care to medically vulnerable and undeserved people throughout the United States. 

Health Center Program

Community health centers have become the provider of choice for essential primary care services for millions of Americans, including some of the nation’s most vulnerable populations. Health centers provide a medical home to many people facing geographic, linguistic, cultural, and socioeconomic barriers to care.

Health centers nationwide are meeting some of the highest standards of care. Almost all health centers meet or exceed at least one national benchmark goal for quality of care. As they have been for over 50 years, health centers are leaders in improving the health of millions of people in communities across the nation.

For over 50 years, community health centers have delivered comprehensive, high-quality preventive and primary health care to patients regardless of their ability to pay. In 1965, the Health Center Program started with just two clinics—today there are nearly 1,400 health centers across the country serving millions of individuals.