For 60 years, Community Health Centers (CHCs) have been the backbone of rural health care. CHCs provide affordable, comprehensive services to at least 34 million Americans and up to 52 million, including as many as 1 in 3 people in rural and frontier areas. This report documents how rural CHCs serve as both health care lifelines and economic anchors, offering medical, dental, behavioral health, and pharmacy services under one roof while employing more than 96,000 staff and contributing $38 billion annually to local economies.
This report analyzes data about rural CHCs across the country, with findings that include:
- the percentage of patients served by rural CHCs in rural states
- which states employ the most staff in rural CHCs
- how rural CHCs perform on clinical metrics
Despite delivering high-quality, cost-effective care that often matches or exceeds national outcomes in chronic disease management, prenatal care, and screenings, rural CHCs face urgent challenges, including unstable funding, workforce shortages, and limited broadband for telehealth.
This report explains why sustained investment in workforce pipelines, infrastructure modernization, and innovative care delivery are essential to strengthen rural CHCs and close persistent health disparities.
