WASHINGTON (August 23, 2022) - The Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health published today a paper highlighting the unique value of community health centers operating in more than 13,900 sites across the United States.
Community health centers provide a much-needed health care safety net for almost 30 million patients in underserved rural, suburban, and urban communities. The new report shows how the non-profit centers promote health equity, lower health care costs while providing high-quality care, and create economic opportunity in the communities they serve.
“The research evidence clearly demonstrates that community health centers have been critical in tackling health problems, including the COVID-19, opioid and mental health crises, as well as promoting health equity by providing high quality care to needy Americans,” Leighton Ku, Professor and Director of the Center for Health Policy Research and lead author of the report, said. “Community health centers address urgent national needs by offering access to effective primary and preventive care services, while also holding down health care costs.”
Research studies, conducted over decades and involving millions of patients, show that by bolstering high quality primary and preventive health care, community health centers lower the need for avoidable emergency room and hospital care. This results in substantially lowering the total costs of health care for these patients, providing an efficient and effective way to improve health access across the nation.
In addition, community health centers contribute to the economic health of their communities by bolstering employment and economic growth, studies show.
The report demonstrates the importance of continued support for community health centers, which are federally funded under Section 330 of the Public Health Service Act and supplemented by insurance payments from Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, other public insurance, and private health insurance.
The report, “The Value Proposition: Evidence of the Health and Economic Contributions of Community Health Centers” can be accessed here.
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About the Geiger Gibson Program in Community Health:
The Geiger Gibson Program in Community Health is the nation’s leading academic program focusing on community health centers and the communities and populations they serve. Established in 2004 and named after human rights and health center pioneers Drs. H. Jack Geiger and Count Gibson, it is based in the Department of Health Policy and Management at GW's Milken Institute School of Public Health. A major gift from the RCHN Community Health Foundation provides ongoing core support for the Program’s scholarship, educational activities and research by the Geiger Gibson/ RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative.
About Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University:
Established in July 1997 as the GW School of Public Health and Health Services, Milken Institute School of Public Health is the only school of public health in the nation’s capital. Today, more than 3,000 students from 48 U.S. states and territories and more than 32 countries pursue undergraduate, graduate and doctoral-level degrees in public health. The school also offers an online Master of Public Health, MPH@GW, and an online Executive Master of Health Administration, MHA@GW, which allow students to pursue their degree from anywhere in the world.