NACHC Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Ronald Yee, spoke with C-SPAN Washington Journal host John McArdle about the role of Community Health Centers as frontline responders to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Watch it here.

 

 

 

 

Community Health Centers Are Frontline Responders to Prevent Virus Spread in Communities

Contact: Amy Simmons Farber,  301-347-0400 [email protected]

Washington – This week the House and Senate approved a bipartisan $8.3 billion package that includes $100 million in funding for Community Health Centers to address the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic. Health centers are frontline responders to the spreading virus. They are working in partnership with public health departments to screen, monitor and help contain the person-to-person spread of the virus in communities and reduce the burden on overwhelmed hospital emergency rooms.

“Community Health Centers are increasingly trusted, critical, first responders in times of national emergencies,” said Tom Van Coverden, President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC).  “We serve 29 million of our neediest fellow Americans – the people who are hardest hit by epidemics such as the coronavirus outbreak. While we requested more funding, Congressional leaders have assured us that we will be given the resources we need to address this epidemic.”

COVID-19 has caused a widespread shortage of personal protective equipment – masks, gloves, face shields, gowns, and similar protective barriers. There has also been an upsurge of patient visits and calls to health centers as the numbers of people infected with the virus continues to climb in the U.S. Health centers, who have an established record of emergency preparedness with public health outbreaks, are developing clinical protocols and building response systems in partnership with federal, state authorities, local public health departments, community stakeholders, and disaster relief-based non-profits. With hospital closures happening in greater numbers, health centers are essential to the nation’s response strategy.

“At a time that our nation is facing another public health crisis with the spread of COVID-19, now is the best time to bolster existing public health and primary care resources,” said Van Coverden. “As Congress addresses this emergency, it is more critical than ever to reauthorize critical, long-term, and stable funding for essential programs like the Community Health Center Fund, Teaching Health Centers, and the National Health Service Corps.

Health centers are currently functioning under a temporary funding measure. The lack of long-term, stable funding makes it challenging to recruit and hire providers, plan services, or expand capacity at a time when a sustained and robust public health response is needed.

The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) recently called on Congressional leaders to make long-term funding for health centers a top priority.

###

Established in 1971, the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) serves as the national voice for America’s Health Centers and as an advocate for health care access for the medically underserved and uninsured.

 

 

 

For Immediate Release:  March 3, 2020

Contact: Amy Simmons Farber,  301-347-0400 

Community Health Centers will play a critical role in the nationwide response strategy to the novel coronavirus, also known at COVID-19.  “Community Health Centers are the most direct connection from critical federal programs like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Main Street,” said Ronald Yee, MD, Chief Medical Officer for the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC).

“NACHC is in regular communications with the CDC Coronavirus Response Task Force. We are also providing communication to health centers, keeping them up to date on CDC recommendations, seeking to educate providers and the broader community.”

Because health centers are in virtually every community in our country, federal officials have become increasingly reliant on them to respond to public health challenges such as COVID-19. Health centers communicate regularly with local and state public health authorities, hospitals, and relief organizations.

“We are among America’s first responders in communities throughout the country on other major public health threats – H1N1, SARS, Ebola, and natural disasters,” Dr. Yee said.

With an increase in hospital closures across the country, health centers are becoming even more essential to the nation’s response strategy.

“Our focus is to regularly communicate with the health center field and keep them up to date on CDC recommendations,” Yee said. “It is important that we educate and not alarm and above all else ensure that health centers have the tools they need to implement clinical protocols in response to COVID-19 if necessary, working in partnership with local public health departments, organizations, and community stakeholders.”

NACHC is hosting a webinar, “Prepare Not Panic: COVID-19 CDC Update and the Health Center Response,” in collaboration with the CDC Coronavirus Response Task Force. The webinar, scheduled for Friday, March 6, 2020 1:00 pm EST,  will provide information on how health centers can continue to prepare an organized response to COVID-19, including:

• sharing clinical protocols nationwide
• building systems in partnership with federal, state authorities, local public health departments, and community stakeholders to boost the health center response strategy.

Health centers also face the additional challenge of operating under a temporary funding measure. The lack of stable funding makes it challenging to recruit/hire providers, plan services, or expand capacity at a time when a sustained and robust public health response demands stable and long-term funding.

The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) recently called on Congressional leaders to make long-term funding for health centers a top priority.

###

Established in 1971, the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) serves as the national voice for America’s Health Centers and as an advocate for health care access for the medically underserved and uninsured.

Reauthorizing a fund for placing medical residents in federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) and other Community Health Centers should be a top Congressional priority, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), whose letter to House and Senate letters was highlighted by Patient Access News.   To read the full article in Patient Care Access News please visit this link. 

Read the AAFP Letter. 

 

Hurricane Dorian damaged the Ocracoke Community Health Center back in September, but after renovations, they have finally reopened.  North Carolina Health News documents the long slow process of getting back to normal for the health center and community.  To view the full article please visit this link.

We now have a name for the disease caused by the novel coronavirus: COVID-19. The disease, which was first identified in the Wuhan province of China, was renamed by the World Health Organization, to avoid stigmatizing any geographical location, animal or individual with the disease. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that more cases of COVID-19 are likely to be identified in the coming days. There are 19 confirmed cases in the U.S. The CDC says it is probable that person-to-person spread will continue to occur, including in the United States. NACHC is directly communicating with the CDC Coronavirus Response Task Force on a regular basis.  To read the full text follow this link to the NACHC Blog.