Increasing Access to Affordable Primary Care through Health Centers
August 2010
With the recent passage of healthcare reform, a focus throughout the country has been on increasing people’s access to affordable primary health care. Many of these new patients will find quality care at community health centers. Community health centers now serve 20 million people in America in 7,500 communities, including Cincinnati Health Department (CHD) Health Centers that serve more than 35,000 patients annually at six primary care and two dental sites. There are also 6 private non profit health centers located in Hamilton County providing healthcare services.
A key provision of the recently passed Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act expands the national network of community health centers and provides people with more health care homes, leading to better quality care at lower costs. In Ohio, by 2015, this will translate to doubling the number of patients that will be seen at Ohio’s community health centers to more than one million patients.
This new opportunity for expanding primary care through health centers was celebrated during National Health Center Week 2010, focusing on “Turning Vision into Reality.” This theme reflects the enormous task and opportunity before health centers, as we work to increase healthcare access. Enactment of health reform placed immense trust and confidence in community health centers, and it is up to us to define the future of preventive and primary healthcare and demonstrate how it should be delivered with quality, innovation and excellence.
By increasing access to primary and preventive healthcare at local health centers, hospital emergency rooms are able to focus on saving lives and reducing wait times, which translates to lightening the cost load for consumer’s taxpayers and governments.
All Cincinnati residents can receive care at the Health Department, even without health insurance. CHD patients have access to a range of primary and preventive care services—Pediatrics, Internal Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nursing Services, Pharmacy, Laboratory Testing, Immunizations, WIC Nutritional Services, and Dental Services. We also operate a school based health center at Oyler School in Price Hill. These services allow people in Cincinnati, who may have no other access to healthcare to receive regular care that is both coordinated and targeted to meet specific health care needs, contributing to the health and wellness of all Cincinnati citizenry.
National Health Center Week 2010, was August 8-14. The Elm Street Health Center, one of the Health Department’s sites, celebrated by giving out school supplies to our school-age patients and their parents. For more information on the Cincinnati Health Department or our health centers, visit: www.cincinnati-oh.gov.
August 2010
With the recent passage of healthcare reform, a focus throughout the country has been on increasing people’s access to affordable primary health care. Many of these new patients will find quality care at community health centers. Community health centers now serve 20 million people in America in 7,500 communities, including Cincinnati Health Department (CHD) Health Centers that serve more than 35,000 patients annually at six primary care and two dental sites. There are also 6 private non profit health centers located in Hamilton County providing healthcare services.
A key provision of the recently passed Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act expands the national network of community health centers and provides people with more health care homes, leading to better quality care at lower costs. In Ohio, by 2015, this will translate to doubling the number of patients that will be seen at Ohio’s community health centers to more than one million patients.
This new opportunity for expanding primary care through health centers was celebrated during National Health Center Week 2010, focusing on “Turning Vision into Reality.” This theme reflects the enormous task and opportunity before health centers, as we work to increase healthcare access. Enactment of health reform placed immense trust and confidence in community health centers, and it is up to us to define the future of preventive and primary healthcare and demonstrate how it should be delivered with quality, innovation and excellence.
By increasing access to primary and preventive healthcare at local health centers, hospital emergency rooms are able to focus on saving lives and reducing wait times, which translates to lightening the cost load for consumer’s taxpayers and governments.
All Cincinnati residents can receive care at the Health Department, even without health insurance. CHD patients have access to a range of primary and preventive care services—Pediatrics, Internal Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nursing Services, Pharmacy, Laboratory Testing, Immunizations, WIC Nutritional Services, and Dental Services. We also operate a school based health center at Oyler School in Price Hill. These services allow people in Cincinnati, who may have no other access to healthcare to receive regular care that is both coordinated and targeted to meet specific health care needs, contributing to the health and wellness of all Cincinnati citizenry.
National Health Center Week 2010, was August 8-14. The Elm Street Health Center, one of the Health Department’s sites, celebrated by giving out school supplies to our school-age patients and their parents. For more information on the Cincinnati Health Department or our health centers, visit: www.cincinnati-oh.gov.
