The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), awarded more than $50 million to fund 77 health centers across 23 states, Puerto Rico, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
This funding provides operational support for new organizations to become HRSA Health Center Program grantees and for existing health centers to establish new service delivery sites.
“Opening new community health centers and creating additional sites of care is a vital way to help expand access to care and improve the health of the nation’s underserved communities, both rural and urban,” announced HHS Secretary Alex Azar.
HRSA’s Health Center Program New Access Points funding expands access to quality health care services for vulnerable populations. The investments support the creation of service delivery sites to strengthen comprehensive primary health care services in areas where geographic, economic, or cultural barriers limit access to affordable health care.
“This new funding will increase access to healthcare for more than 400,000 new patients,” said HRSA Acting Administrator Tom Engels. “HRSA's Health Center Program provides resources and services to health centers nationwide to improve access to quality health care for all, regardless of their ability to pay.”
Nearly 1,400 health centers located in every U.S. state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the Pacific Basin operate approximately 12,000 sites to provide accessible, affordable, quality healthcare services to more than 28 million people.
