Contact: Barbara Riley
Wednesday, August 13, 2008

FRANKLIN, NH – United States Senator John Sununu (R-NH) today (8/13) marked National Health Center Week by meeting with Community Health Center Directors from across the state at Franklin’s Health First Family Care Center where he also toured the 841 Central Street facility.

 “Community health centers throughout New Hampshire and across the nation are often the first line of assistance for the low-income and uninsured, providing primary and preventative health care to millions of individuals, children, and families regardless of income or insurance status,” said Sununu.  “I welcomed the opportunity to meet with center directors in Franklin to learn more about their dedication to delivering high-quality, cost-effective medical care to patients and to assure them that I will continue to strongly support their mission. It’s clear that the federal resources provide valuable support for health care centers, which function as a critical safety net to those most in need.”

Tess Stack Kuenning, executive director of Bi-State Primary Care Association, who attended the meeting, said, “Throughout his time in Congress, Senator Sununu has preserved, protected and enhanced community health center funding to meet the growing number of under- and uninsured.”
 
Bi-State is a private, nonprofit membership organization which includes Health First Family Care Center and has a mission to foster the delivery of primary and preventive health services to the people of New Hampshire and Vermont with special emphasis on the medically underserved.  Health First Family Care Center is a community health center which provides primary care to the medically underserved population of the Twin Rivers Region of central New Hampshire, which includes the communities of Franklin, Hill, Bristol, Tilton, New Hampton, Sanbornton, Northfield, Andover, East Andover, Salisbury, Danbury, Alexandria, and Bridgewater.
 
Also attending the meeting were: Vanessa Sanatrelli, Bi-State Director on New Hampshire Public Policy; Hank Osborne, Bi-State Director of Development and Marketing; Rick Silverberg, Executive Director of Health First Family Care Center; Amanda Pears, National Association of Community Health Centers Assistant Director of National Advocacy, and Associate Director of State Affairs; Ed Shanshala, Executive Director/CEO of Ammonoosuc Community Health Services (Grafton County);  Janet Atkins, CEO of Avis Goodwin Community Health Center (Strafford County); Kirsten Platte, Executive Director of Community Health Access Network (Rockingham County); Adele Woods, CEO of Coos County Family Health Services (Coos County); Marianne Savarese, Director of Health Care for the Homeless Program (Hillsborough County); Rick Silverberg, Executive Director of Health First Family Care Center (Merrimack County); Shirley Powell, CEO of Indian Stream Health Center (Coos County); and Ed George, President/CEO of Manchester Community Health Center (Hillsborough County).
 
National Health Center Week (August 10-16, 2008) is dedicated to recognizing the service and contributions of America’s Community Health Centers in providing affordable, high quality, cost-effective health care to medically vulnerable and underserved people in the U.S.  The event is organized on the national level by the National Association of Community Health Centers and at the state level by Bi-State Primary Care Association.

BACKGROUND: Senator Sununu has led numerous efforts to preserve funding and capabilities of Community Health Centers.  Most recently, he: 

• Obtained Senate Appropriations Committee support for $650,000 in Fiscal Year 2009 funding for Bi-State Primary Care Association in Concord to allow New Hampshire’s community health centers to provide care for uninsured and underserved patients

• Obtained Senate Appropriations Committee approval of $200,000 in Fiscal Year 2009 funding for the Manchester Community Health Center to support the relocation and expansion of the facility.

• Obtained Senate Appropriations Committee approval of $300,000 in Fiscal Year 2007 funding for Community Health Centers throughout New Hampshire to address the increasing number of patients without health insurance.

• In 2006, announced $150,000 in U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Rural Health Care Services Outreach Grant Program funds for Franklin’s Health First Family Care Center to train Franklin-area nurses and doctors in the development of chronic disease care management programs.

• Won U.S. Senate approval in 2005 for his amendment to increase the funding level for Community Health Centers by $50 million.

Senator Sununu has a lengthy record of commitment to health care policy that has earned him national recognition. Specifics about the following awards can be found on his official web site at www.sununu.senate.gov under the “Honors” section:

• National Breast Cancer Coalition “Certificate of Excellence Award.”

• National Association of Community Health Centers “2008 Superhero Award.”

• American Foundation for the Blind’s “2006 Helen Keller Achievement Award.”

• Bi-State Primary Care Association’s 2005 “Champion of Community Health Centers.”

• Lighthouse International’s 2004 “Henry Grunwald Award for Public Service.”

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