How New Grants Will Help Community Health Centers Expand

Many Americans must visit health centers that are found in rural or urban areas and have limited health care alternatives. For most this includes their routine doctor visits but sometimes extends well beyond that. For example many community health centers provide prescription services and even primary dental care. Many of these centers have counseling services and even provide employment help. Some families even visit their local center to get help managing their diabetes or controlling other chronic diseases.

The US government has recently approved a new round of Affordable Care Act grants that will provide $730 million to community health centers. This money will help urban and rural centers provide health care to communities that are vulnerable to social and economic changes that may prevent their operation. With these new grants centers will be able to serve almost one million patients. In addition this money will be used to expand and renovate their facilities as well as create more jobs in the local community.

The new health care law has helped with construction projects and renovation at over 190 health centers across the country. In addition, these new grants will help build almost seventy new health centers. With a new round of financial help health centers have seen a fifteen percent increase in employment over the past three years. The Affordable Care Act has helped community health centers serve almost three million more patients than they would have without the grants.

One of the many problems community centers face is the lack of resources needed to help those in the surrounding areas. Most centers find themselves without enough space and limited supplies. Unfortunately there have not been enough clinicians and staff members available to handle the large amount of patients requesting their services.

The lack of resources provided to community health centers has been a major focus for government groups. In fact the Affordable Care Act will increase the number of patients that can be served from seventeen million to over twenty million over a three year period. In addition, the Recovery Act has also helped improve the condition and available services at most health centers.

With the help of the community and access to additional grants these centers will greatly be able to improve. For example, over the next two years the new law will provide assistance to almost five hundred renovation projects and over two hundred new community health centers. It is estimated that these new sites will create almost six thousand jobs. The hope is that the new laws will provide assistance to over one million new patients in the next few years.

For many communities these government supported health centers are the only access point for quality health care. Out of necessity most centers must operate on small budgets in comparison to larger health care providers. Many believe that these low-cost health care providers are an excellent investment in the communities around the country.