HHS Awards $29M to 48 Community Health Centers in California
On Tuesday, HHS announced that it has awarded more than $29 million in Affordable Care Act funding to 48 new community health centers across California, the Merced Sun-Star reports (Merced Sun-Star, 8/11).
Background
Community health centers are not-for-profit health care organizations that offer care to medically underserved populations and bill based on patients' ability to pay (California Healthline, 5/6). There are about 1,300 CHCs across the U.S., and nearly 23 million patients receive care through such facilities.
Details of Funding
Overall, HHS this week awarded $169 million in ACA funds to 266 CHCs in rural and urban areas across 46 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.
The sites are expected to deliver care to more than 1.2 million patients (Morse, Healthcare Finance, 8/11).
The 48 new CHCs in California that received funding are projected to provide care access to more than 337,000 patients (Fresno Business Journal, 8/11).
The California CHCs that received the most funding were:
- Community Health Centers of the Central Coast in Nipomo, which received $1.19 million;
- Sierra Family Medical Clinic in Nevada City, which received $1.19 million; and
- Camino Health Center in Lake Forest, which received $1.13 million.
In total, HHS during fiscal year 2015 has awarded more than $44 million to 71 CHCs in the state (HHS funding recipient list, August 2015).
This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.