$11.3 million in new grants to expand US health care access

Citation

(2001), "$11.3 million in new grants to expand US health care access", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 14 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijhcqa.2001.06214eab.015

$11.3 million in new grants to expand US health care access

$11.3 million in new grants to expand US health care access

In March the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced $11.3 million in grants to 25 local community health centres to expand access to health care for medically underserved Americans. The Health Resources and Services Administration's New Start/Expansion grants will help grantees in 17 states to expand health care access for some 200,000 individuals by creating new health care sites in urban and rural areas that are medically underserved.

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson said:

"Community health centers are the core of the health care safety net for underserved and uninsured Americans. Increasing the number of health center sites is a critical part of President Bush's pledge to strengthen the health care safety net in the United States."

Community health centres serve all people regardless of their ability to pay and target their services in areas where people face barriers to accessing high-quality, culturally competent care. Through extensive partnerships with local providers, hospitals and managed care organisations, health centres build local systems of care that increase residents' access to health services. The health centres receiving these grants serve communities that badly need more primary care services and that have many residents without health insurance. Grant amounts vary in size based on the scope of the project and the size of the service area.

For more information, see the Community Health Center Program Web site at www.bphc.hrsa.gov/chc/