National Association of Community Health Centers: CHCs "Will Continue to Grow and Reach Out to More People"

In an interview on May 4, 2011, Senior VP of the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC), Dan Hawkins, discussed the growing role of community health centers in the nation's health care system. Twenty-one months after receiving stimulus funding, community health centers have served 3.7 million new patients (1 million more than projected by the  Health Resources and Services Administration).  "The health centers are continuing to prove to even the most cynical skeptic that they can and will continue to grow and reach out to more people.  They have also done so without letting the quality of their care slip one iota," Hawkins said. Despite the strong growth, Hawkins is concerned about the effects of recent state and federal budget cuts, especially with regard to the number of patients the centers can accommodate, the extent of coverage and reimbursement, and the ability to recruit and train new health workers.