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News Release

HHS AWARDS NEARLY $11 MILLION TO HELP 19 COMMUNITIES
EXTEND HEALTH CARE SERVICES TO LOW-INCOME AND UNINSURED AMERICANS

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today announced 19 new grants totaling nearly $11 million to help communities provide comprehensive health care services to an estimated 150,000 people, including many without health insurance.

Today's grants continue President Bush's five-year initiative to expand health centers. Launched in 2002, the initiative will add 1,200 new and expanded health center sites and increase the number of people served annually from about 10 million to 16 million by 2006.

"These grants will help to extend the health care safety net for Americans without health insurance," Secretary Thompson said. "President Bush and I are committed to expanding health centers in underserved rural and urban communities as part of our broader strategy to address the needs of Americans without health insurance."

Health centers deliver preventive and primary care to patients regardless of their ability to pay. Almost half of the patients treated at health centers have no insurance coverage, and others have inadequate coverage. Charges for health care services are set according to income, and fees are not collected from the poorest clients.

HHS' Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) manages the Consolidated Health Centers Program, which funds a national network of community health centers, migrant health centers, health care for the homeless centers and public housing primary care centers.

"Since the President's initiative started, we have created hundreds of new health center sites and expanded other sites," HRSA Administrator Elizabeth M. Duke said. "We are providing access to comprehensive health care to some 2 million additional Americans, including many uninsured Americans who otherwise might not get needed care and prevention services."

Expanding health centers in underserved communities is a key component of the Bush Administration's broad strategy for expanding access to health care for the more than 40 million Americans without health insurance. The President's fiscal year 2004 budget plan also would strengthen and modernize the Medicaid program, offer health tax credits to help individuals obtain insurance, and extend Medicaid and State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) coverage to more Americans who otherwise would go without coverage. More information about the President's initiatives to help the uninsured is available at http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2003pres/20030211.html.

The list of today's grant recipients follows.

Fiscal Year 2003 Health Center New Access Point Grants
Organization	City	State	New Users	Proposed Area	Award
Mountain Park Health Center	Phoenix	Ariz.	7,000	Phoenix, Maricopa County	$858,633
Community Health Systems, Inc.	Bloomington	Calif.	4,850	Riverside, Riverside County	376,227
San Diego Family Care	San Diego	Calif.	28,026	San Diego, San Diego County	650,000
North East Medical Services	San Francisco	Calif.	4,600	San Francisco, San Francisco County	325,000
Brookside Community Health Center	San Pablo	Calif.	3,000	Richmond, Contra Costa County	450,000
Limon Doctors Committee dba Plains Medical Center	Limon	Colo.	12,207	Lincoln, Elbert, Kit Carson, Adams and Arapahoe Counties	650,000
McKinney Community Health Center, Inc.	Waycross	Ga.	4,494	St. George, Charlton County	550,000
Family Christian Health Center	Harvey	Ill.	9,443	Harvey, Cook County	649,707
Detroit Health Care for the Homeless, Inc.	Detroit	Mich.	7,675	Brightmoor, Cody/Rouge and Redford communities of Detroit, Wayne County	866,667
Peoples' Health Center of Lincoln	Lincoln	Neb.	8,900	Lincoln, Lancaster County	650,000
Community Healthcare Network	New York	N.Y.	5,040	Washington Heights, Manhattan	650,000
Betances Health Center	New York	N.Y.	10,624	Lower East Side of Manhattan	650,000
Goshen Medical Center, Inc.	Faison	N.C.	8,411	Beulaville, Duplin County	325,000
Central City Concern	Portland	Ore.	8,770	Portland, Multnomah County	650,000
Umpqua Community Health Center, Inc.	Roseburg	Ore.	1,500	Glide, Douglas County	365,950
Christ Community Health Services, Inc.	Memphis	Tenn.	18,715	Memphis, Shelby County	650,000
Bear Lake Community Health Centers, Inc.	Garden City	Utah	1,480	Rich County, Utah; Lake County, Idaho	384,658
Valley Health Systems, Inc.	Huntington	W.Va.	5,900	Westmoreland, Wayne County	603,394
Community Health Center of Central Wyoming, Inc.	Casper	Wyo.	2,500	Dubois, Fremont County	445,313
Total:					$10,750,549

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Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.

Last Revised: June 18, 2003