What is a Community Health Center?

Health centers are community-based and patient-directed organizations that deliver comprehensive, culturally competent, high-quality primary health care services to individuals and families.

Health centers integrate access to primary medical, pharmacy, mental health, substance use disorder, and oral health services in areas where economic, geographic, or cultural barriers limit access to affordable health care. By emphasizing coordinated care management of patients with multiple health care needs and the use of key quality improvement practices, including health information technology, health centers reduce health disparities.

(Source: What is a Health Center? | Bureau of Primary Health Care (hrsa.gov))

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Types of FQHCs

Federally Qualified Health Centers may be Community Health Centers, Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the Homeless, and Health Centers for Residents of Public Housing or Tribal Health Centers.

What are the requirements of a federally funded Community Health Center?

Must be located in a federally designated Medically Underserved Area (MUA) or serve a federally designated Medically Underserved Population (MUP)
Must be a non-profit, tax-exempt organization or a public entity
Must offer a sliding fee scale and provide services regardless of ability to pay
Must have a Board of Directors, a majority of whom are consumers of the Health Center’s services
Must participate in federal reporting requirements
Must leverage additional resources (The federal contribution is intended to be only a portion of the Health Center’s overall budget.)

What are the advantages of the federally funded Community Health Center model?

Health Centers are able to provide comprehensive primary care, while receiving reasonable cost-based reimbursement from Medicaid and Medicare.
Health Centers are eligible to purchase prescription and non-prescription medications for their clients at reduced cost through the 340B Drug Pricing Program.
Health Centers are eligible to apply for additional federal grants for site and service expansions.
Health Centers have access to providers through the National Health Service Corps.
Health Centers are eligible for protection from lawsuits alleging medical malpractice through the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA).
Scenic Bluffs Community Health Centers employees are deemed by the Health Resources and Services Administration as employees of the Public Health Services (PHS) for purposes of FTCA medical malpractice coverage under the Federal Supported Health Centers Assistance Acts (FSHCAA) of 1992 (Pub. L. 102-501) and 1995 (Pub. L. 104-73)

What key services are provided by a federally funded Community Health Center?

Primary care services, diagnostic laboratory and radiology services, preventive services including prenatal and perinatal services
Cancer and communicable disease screening
Chronic disease management
Well-child services, immunizations, screening for elevated blood lead levels
Eye, ear, and dental screening for children
Family planning, mental health substance abuse, dental and pharmaceutical services
Case management services; and
Translation and interpretation services.

Each Community Health Center is governed by a Board of Directors. What are the Board of Directors requirements?

Consists of between 9 and 25 members
The majority of board members must be users of Health Center services and represent the populations served.
Meet at least monthly, establish the Health Center hours, approve the selection of the Health Center executive director and establish general policies for the Health Center.
No more than one-half of the remaining members of the board may be individuals who derive more than 10% of their annual income from the health care industry.
The remaining members of the board shall be representative of the community in the Health Center’s catchment area (Monroe, Vernon, Crawford, Grant and La Crosse counties) and shall be selected for their expertise in community affairs, local government, financial and banking, local affairs, trade unions, and other commercial and industrial concerns, or social service agencies within the community.
No member of the board shall be an employee of the Health Center, or spouse or child, parent, brother, or sister by blood or marriage of such an employee.

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