WHAT ARE COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS? - ARE THEY BEING MANAGED AND LED EFFECTIVELY?

What are Community Health Centers? - Are they being managed and led effectively?

We have worked for many years with Community Health Centers (CHCs). These organizations have had great success addressing the medically underserved in this country. Today we begin a series of postings answering questions, outlining what we have learned while working with these Centers, and making a few suggestions for improvements.

We begin today with a brief outline of Community Health Center (CHC) expectations as stated by the Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC) under section 330 of the Public Health Service Act as amended by the Health Centers Consolidation Act of 1996, inter alia,

1. To provide primary and preventive health services to medically underserved populations;

2. To maintain strong leadership, finances and infrastructure in order to adapt and survive the challenges of a transforming health care environment;

3. To deliver high quality clinical services;

4. To ensure that health centers not only survive, but thrive as they move into the twenty-first century.

The CHC Program Expectations include the importance of adapting to health care trends and remaining financially viable, while fulfilling the essential health center mission of providing preventive and primary care services which improve the health of the underserved.

During this critical time for healthcare, it is imperative that we ask these questions:

How well do CHCs follow the above expectations?
How involved are the CHC Boards of Directors?
How skilled are the Executive Directors at ensuring the delivery of care to the underserved?
How committed are the providers (Doctors, Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants)?
Are the medically underserved being served?
Is there strong leadership in place?
Is the leadership capable of financial stewardship?
Is the leadership capable of financial strength?
Are the patients being served?

These, and other, questions about Community Health Centers will be addressed in future posts.


Next post: The Deadly Sins of Community Health Centers (Parts 1, 2 & 3)