Health Centers began as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society Program in 1966 and were first known as ‘neighborhood’ health centers. The program was developed to provide access to affordable, high-quality preventive and primary care in medically underserved communities and for underserved populations, including millions of individuals without health insurance. The Health Center program was permanently authorized under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), signed into law March 2010.
Health Centers have a proud history of bi-partisan support. President George W. Bush championed the ‘Presidential Five-Year Initiative to Expand Health Centers’ (2002-2006), effectively doubling the size of the program. Under President Barack Obama’s Administration, the Health Center program continued to experience unprecedented growth. Health Centers were the only health care providers to receive direct funding in the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which granted $2 billion to construct and expand Health Centers. The next year, the ACA was signed into law mandating $11 billion in new Health Center funding over five years (2011-2015). In April 2015, Congress passed legislation to continue Health Center funding for an additional two-years, reflective at the amount of additional annual funding received through the ACA.
We are proud of our roots and so thankful to every one of our patients we have the privilege to serve.
