Whereas community health centers (CHCs) are a subset of healthcare facilities, including health centers and rural health clinics;

Whereas, since the Great Society programs enacted in 1965, CHCs have provided high-quality, affordable, and comprehensive primary and preventive health care in our Nation’s rural and underinvested communities, delivering value to, and having a significant impact on America’s health care system;

Whereas CHCs are uniquely positioned to provide patient-directed care to the most vulnerable and economically distressed patients, including seniors, individuals with disabilities, and veterans seeking supplemental services;

Whereas CHCs are community-based, and designed to provide care regardless of patient financial or insurance status;

Whereas the country’s largest primary care network, community health centers are the health care home for nearly 10 percent of Americans across 14,000 communities nationwide;

Whereas, nationwide, community health centers serve 1 in every 5 patients living in rural communities;

Whereas there are 10 CHC organizations operating 93 CHC sites in North Carolina’s First Congressional District, with approximately 700 total CHC sites statewide;

Whereas North Carolina CHCs directly employ 6,522 employees statewide, generating a total economic impact of $2,300,000,000, $55,500,000 in State and local tax revenues, and $220,800,000 in Federal tax revenues;

Whereas, through cost-effective care, NC CHCs save an estimated $477,000,000 a year for the Medicaid program by keeping total cost of care 24 percent lower per patient;

Whereas, every day, community health centers develop new approaches to integrating a wide range of services beyond primary care, including oral health, vision, behavioral health, and pharmacy services, to meet the needs and challenges of their communities;

Whereas the community health center model continues to prove an effective means of overcoming barriers to health care access, including geography, income, and insurance status, improving health care outcomes and reducing health care system costs;

Whereas community health centers reduce overall costs of care by helping manage chronic conditions of patients, which keeps them out of costlier health care settings like hospital emergency rooms;

Whereas health center patients and finances continue to suffer strain from restrictions on the 340B Drug Discount Program, which allows CHCs to generate sustainable revenue while reducing patients’ out-of-pocket costs for their life-saving medications, and absent policymaking intervention, restrictions by drug manufacturers will continue to inhibit health centers and patients alike;

Whereas community health centers are on the front lines of emerging health care crises, providing access to care for our nation’s veterans, addressing the opioid epidemic, and responding to public health threats in the wake of natural disasters; and

Whereas, during National Health Center Week, we celebrate the legacy of America’s community health centers, and their vital role in shaping the past, present, and future of America’s health care system: Now, therefore, be it