Recognizing National Health Center Week to Celebrate the Legacy of America's Health Centers and Recognize Their Vital Role in Shaping the Past, Present, and Future of America's Health Care System

Floor Speech

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Ms. BARRAGAN. Mr. Speaker, Whereas for over 50 years, community health centers have provided high-quality, affordable, comprehensive primary and preventive health care in our Nation's underserved communities, delivering value to, and having a significant impact on, America's health care system;

Whereas as the country's largest primary care network, health centers are the health care home for 27,000,000 Americans in over 10,000 communities across the Nation, and 1 in every 12 people in the United States gets his or her care in a health center;

Whereas health centers are a critical element of the health system, serving both rural and urban populations, and often providing the only accessible and dependable source of primary care in their communities;

Whereas nationwide, health centers serve 1 in every 6 residents of rural areas; Whereas every day, health centers develop new approaches to integrating a wide range of services beyond primary care, including oral health, vision, behavioral health, and pharmacy services, to meet the needs and challenges of their communities;

Whereas health centers are governed by patient-majority boards, ensuring that the patients of each health center are engaged in their own health care decisions;

Whereas health centers are locally owned and operated small businesses that serve as critical economic engines, helping to power local economies by generating $45,600,000,000 in economic impact in some of the country's most economically deprived communities;

Whereas health centers nationally employ more than 200,000 people, including physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and certified nurse midwives who work as part of multidisciplinary clinical teams designed to treat the whole patient;

Whereas the health center model continues to prove an effective means of overcoming barriers to health care access, including geography, income, and insurance status, and in doing so, improves health care outcomes and reduces health care system costs;

Whereas health centers reduce overall costs of care by helping manage patients' chronic conditions, which keeps them out of costlier health care settings like hospital emergency rooms;

Whereas health centers are on the frontlines of emerging health care crises, providing access to care for our Nation's veterans, addressing the opioid epidemic, and responding to public health threats in the wake of natural disasters;

Whereas National Health Center Week is an annual celebration that will be held from August 12, 2018, through August 18, 2018;

Whereas National Health Center Week offers the opportunity to recognize America's nearly 1,400 health center organizations with over 10,400 service delivery sites, their dedicated staff, board members, patients, and all those responsible for their continued success and growth since the first health centers opened their doors more than 50 years ago; and

Whereas during National Health Center Week, we celebrate the legacy of America's health centers, and their vital role in shaping the past, present, and future of America's health care system.

Now Therefore that the House of Representatives recognizes the week of August l2-l8th as National Health Center Week; and

Encourages all Americans to take part in this week by visiting their local health center and celebrating the important partnership between America's health centers and the communities they serve.

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