What is a Community Health Center?
Since the nation’s first health centers opened in 1965, expansion of the federally-supported health center system to over 1,400 organizations has created an affordable health care option for more than 29 million people. Health centers help increase access to acute primary care by reducing barriers such as cost, lack of insurance, distance, and language for their patients. In doing so, health centers provide substantial benefits to the country and its health care system.
They also:
- Provide highly efficient and cost-effective care, generating $24 billion in savings for the health care system annually.
- Increase access to timely primary care, playing a role in reducing costly, avoidable emergency department (ED) visits and hospital stays. The average cost for a health center medical visit was less than one-sixth of the average cost of an ED visit in 2012.
- Deliver a broad array of primary and preventive care services, including screening, diagnosis, and management of chronic illnesses such as diabetes, asthma, heart and lung disease, depression, cancer, and HIV/AIDS.
- Reduce mortality, health disparities, and risk of low birth weight with the care they deliver.
- Offer numerous enabling services such as transportation, translation, case management, and health education to ensure their patients are receiving the care they need.
An integral component of the Indiana Primary Health Care Association’s mission is to help develop, nurture, and continually expand the network of Community Health Centers (CHCs) across the state.
There are currently more than 35 CHCs in Indiana.
• Need to find your local CHC? Use the HRSA widget below.
Facts and figures
The Health Care Need in Indiana
State Population, 2015 Census Estimate: 6,483,802
(Data Source: American Community Survey 2011-2015)
Number of people below poverty level | 978,043 |
Percent of total population in poverty | 15.08% |
Number of low income (less than 200% federal poverty level) |
2,217,727
|
Percent of total population that are low income |
34.20%
|
Number uninsured | 828,342 |
Percent uninsured in state | 12.8% |
Number of Hoosiers enrolled in Medicaid and HIP 2.0 (Jan. 2017) | 1,411,985 |
Percent of population on Medicaid/HIP | 21.7% |