Wyden, Merkley Announce Grants for Community Health Centers in Oregon

Washington, DC – Continuing efforts to improve health care access for underserved communities, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) announced today that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has awarded nearly $1 million from the Affordable Care Act to three community health centers in Oregon.


Wyden and Merkley have long advocated for funding of community health centers. These centers deliver quality care and services, driven by the needs of the communities they serve. With the help of these health centers, patients that may not otherwise have access to primary or preventative care have a provider to turn to.


“I strongly believe that access to primary care and prevention is essential to getting America healthy,” Wyden said. “I’m proud of the work community health centers in Oregon are doing to help in that effort. This funding is well deserved and is yet another example of the quality services delivered by - and to - Oregonians.”

“Community health centers are one of the best ways of keeping kids healthy and delivering good primary care so folks stay out of the hospital,” Merkley said. “This grant is one way the Affordable Care Act is helping more Oregonians get their checkups and exams, and saving money in the long run by preventing diseases and complications that are the major drivers of the cost of health care.”

According to the Health Resources and Services Administration, community health centers treated approximately 19.5 million people in 2010. Of those served, nearly two-thirds were of ethnic and minority groups, and almost forty percent were uninsured.

 
The Affordable Care Act created an $11 billion fund to support the operation, expansion and construction of community health centers over a five year period. The grants awarded this week by the Department of Health and Human Services will allow community health centers to serve more patients through the creation of new service delivery sites providing comprehensive primary and preventative care services.

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