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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Bureau of Primary Care writes that “For over 50 years, community health centers have delivered comprehensive, high-quality preventive and primary health care to patients regardless of their ability to pay. In 1965, the Health Center Program started with just two clinics—today there are nearly 1,400 health centers across the country serving millions of medically underserved individuals.”

Why are they so valuable?

HHS: “Community health centers have become the provider of choice for essential primary care services for millions of Americans, including some of the nation’s most vulnerable populations. Health centers provide a medical home to many people facing geographic, linguistic, cultural, and socioeconomic barriers to care.”

More information on National Health Center Week can be found here.

Meanwhile, this infographic provides a strong sense of how big the program is: