Press Release

Release Date: August 3, 2005
HRCHC Contact: Communications Department
Telephone: (207) 861-3466
Email: Communications@HealthReach.org

National Health Center Week (August 7 - 13): HealthReach Community Health Centers Celebrates 30 Years

(WATERVILLE) — National Health Center Week is celebrated August 7-13 to recognize the service and contributions of community health centers across the country.

Observance of National Health Center Week comes as health centers nationally celebrate their 40th anniversary. The federal health center program started out as a pilot project in President Lyndon Johnson’s declared "War on Poverty" in 1965. Now health centers are the family doctor to 15 million people across America. No one is turned away for care, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay. Study after study documents the effectiveness of health centers in fighting chronic diseases -- such as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and asthma -- by providing affordable and accessible health care.

As the national movement celebrates its 40th anniversary, HealthReach Community Health Centers (HRCHC) celebrates its 30th. HRCHC is a non-profit which provides primary health care services to nearly 38,000 individuals of all ages from central and western Maine, with centers in Albion, Belgrade Lakes, Bethel, Bingham, Coopers Mills, Kingfield, Livermore Falls, Madison, Rangeley, Richmond and Strong.

“Over the past 30 years no fewer than 1,000 employees and volunteers have helped us bring quality, affordable and accessible health care to some of the most rural parts of western and central Maine,” says HRCHC President & CEO Stephen E. Walsh, MHA. “Many of those associated with HealthReach’s effort have been involved since its inception in 1975. This is an incredible testimony to the passion and commitment to community health felt by those involved,” he says.

In addition to being close to home to the area residents whom they serve, HRCHC’s health centers, like their counterparts across the country, also improve access by offering services that help patients access health care, such as health education, case management of chronic disease and advocacy for patients who are having difficulty accessing other community resources. At HRCHC, a sliding fee program is available to patients in financial need. As a system of Federally-Qualified Health Centers, a majority of members of HRCHC’s governing Board of Directors are required to be health center patients. This active patient management of health centers ensures responsiveness to local needs.

Health centers also help contain health care costs by providing primary and preventive health services, reducing the need for more costly hospital and specialty care. Studies show that Medicaid patients at health centers have a significantly lower rate of hospitalization than others with alternative sources of care.

HealthReach Community Health Centers is a family of eleven federally qualified, community-based health centers and one dental center located in Central and Western Maine. Dedicated providers deliver high quality, affordable healthcare to 38,000 rural and underserved residents in over 80 communities. A private, non-profit organization with a 30-year history, HRCHC is funded by patient fees, grants and individual donations. For more information, please visit www.HealthReachCHC.org.