FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

February 17, 2022

MEDIA CONTACT: 

e: brian.phillips@mail.house.gov

c: 202.913.0126

Washington, D.C. — Today, Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09), introduced the Health Center Community Transformation Hub Act, legislation that will authorize specialized grants to community health centers (CHCs) for the purpose of implementing community transformation hubs – networks of community based organizations capable of addressing primary social determinants of health, including access to transportation, food security, economic security, education access and quality, and more.

“With the support of our local Advocates for Community Health (ACH) organizations, the coordinated approach of my legislation will deliver critical access to the varied networks of services and support patients depend on to live healthy lives. By empowering health centers and the healthcare professionals who know their community best, we will ensure everyone who depends on these services maintains the equity in care they deserve,” said Congresswoman Clarke.

According to Uniform Data System data, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) funded CHCs served over 30 million patients in 2021, a 43 percent increase over the past 10 years. One in five community health center patients are from rural areas, almost 400,000 are veterans, 63 percent identify as a racial/ethnic minority, and 90 percent have incomes ≤ 200 percent of the federal poverty level. In order to address the complex needs of these and other varied constituencies, CHCs act as hyper-local hubs that provide consumer driven, comprehensive care, screening for social risk factors and working to improve clinical care and quality of life for their communities.

This bill is cosponsored by Reps. Troy A. Carter (LA-02), Jamaal Bowman (NY-16), Nanette D. Barragan (CA-44), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-At Large), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Gwen Moore (WI-04), and Barbara Lee (CA-12).

Read the full bill text here.

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