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CHAMPS’ mission, in part, is to provide a coordinating structure of service to federally qualified Community Health Centers in Region VIII.
In order to better understand Community Health Centers, please click or scroll down for:
CHC Introduction
Finding a CHC in Region VIII
Understanding FQHCs
CHC Requirements & Expectations
Other Online Resources
CHC Terms & Acronyms
Community Health Centers (CHCs) provide high-quality, affordable and accessible primary health care to primarily indigent, medically underserved, and underinsured populations in a wide range of communities, from inner cities to rural frontiers. As of 2006 there are more than 1,000 organizations operating over 6,200 health centers in the United States; these include migrant health centers, health care for the homeless centers, and public housing primary care centers. These CHCs served about 15 million people in 2006.
For a history of Community Health Centers, please link to the National Association of Community Health Center’s (NACHC’s) About Health Centers page.
Follow the links below to locate Community, Migrant, and Homeless Health Centers throughout Region VIII.
Please note: the links listed above may include information for health service sites that are not FQHCs.
FQHCs are health centers which receive Public Health Service (PHS) Act Section 330 funds and serve medically underserved areas (MUAs), or serve a medically underserved population (MUP), or meet the statutory requirements for receiving federal community health center program funds.
For more information about MUAs and MUPs, link to our Understanding HPSAs and MUAs page.
- Health centers receiving Section 330 federal funds are automatically eligible for certification as Medicaid and Medicare FQHCs, receiving cost-based reimbursement for Medicaid and Medicare patients. (Health centers not receiving federal funding must complete an application through the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Bureau of Primary Health Care to obtain this certification.)
- FQHC status may offer health centers certain other benefits, such as access to federally-funded and supported technical assistance, higher rates of payment under Medicaid managed care, and eligibility for the PHS Drug Pricing Program.
- Visit the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMS) Federally Qualified Health Center Fact Sheet for more details.
The federal government compiles statistics from all health center grantees on an annual basis. This information, called the Uniform Data System (UDS), is available from the Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC).
For more details, please link to the BPHC’s Uniform Data System (UDS) Overview page.
For summarized Region VIII CHC UDS information relating to users, staffing, and encounter types, please click HERE.
All Federally Qualified Health Centers are required to:
- Be located in a medically underserved area or serve a medically underserved population
- Provide comprehensive primary care (directly and/or by contract)
- Serve all patients regardless of age or income, within a defined service area
- Have a sliding-fee schedule based on the patient’s ability to pay
- Be a public or not-for-profit organization
- Have a community-based board of directors; to be federally funded, a majority of the board members must use the health center and must represent the community served in terms of demographic factors such as race, ethnicity, sex, age, and socioeconomic status
- Comply with program expectations for a federally funded CHC
To receive federal funding a community health center must meet the program expectations of the U.S. Public Health Service. These expectations describe aspects of organizational structure and processes that are associated with successful health center programs. Every CHC should have a sound infrastructure able to respond to the needs of its community within the constraints of its resources, and should develop processes and procedures designated to ensure the provision of high quality health services supported by strong management and governance.
The four parts of the program expectations are as follows:
1. Needs Assessment and Planning
Community health centers are required to assess the health needs of the population to be served and the resources available in the community to meet those needs. Health centers are required to work closely with other safety net providers in defining and revising an appropriate role for the health center in addressing community health care needs. Factors used to determine need are geographic, demographic, and economic.
2. Governance
A board of directors must govern community health centers, which has full authority and responsibility to establish program policies. The board of directors should govern within the context of a long-term strategic mission and goals, as well as an annual operating plan. A majority of the board members must represent users of the center’s services. A set of by-laws governing the organization should be maintained by the center. The by-laws should describe the structure and functions of the Board, and meet the requirements of federal, state, and local laws and regulations.
3. Management and Finance
To operate efficiently and effectively, the center must have appropriate management. The long-term mission and goals of the organization should guide center management. Management of a health center is a team process with well-defined lines of authority and responsibility. Adequate infrastructure must be in place including finance, management information systems, and communications.
4. Clinical Program/Health Services
Community health centers are required by law to operate a system of care that contributes to the desired outcomes of availability, accessibility, quality, comprehensiveness, and coordination. Centers must ensure that basic primary care services, coordinated with other levels of care, and support services appropriate to the communities defined health care needs are available and accessible. Centers must also have qualified providers and a clinical management system that ensures quality and continuity of care.
For more information, read BPHC’s Summary of Program Requirements and Expectations.
The US Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Office of Rural Health Policy has created a Comparison of the Rural Health Clinic and Federally Qualified Health Center Programs to help practitioners understand the differences between the two programs.
For more information on federally funded programs, please link to the BPHC’s Policy Information Notices (PINs) & Program Assistance Letters (PALs) page.
The National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) has created a practical guide to starting a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC). Please click HERE to access this document.
Utah Community Health Centers were highlighted in a PBS documentary that aired on affiliate KUED. The documentary looks at the barriers to health care, particularly among the uninsured. In Utah, an estimated 300,000 to 400,000 people are uninsured. That's roughly twice the population of Salt Lake City. Please click HERE for more details about the project, including a film transcript, Q&A with the director, interviews, and to watch the film.
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