Community Health Centers

Our mission is to advocate for quality health care for all persons residing in Indiana, and support the development of community-oriented primary care initiatives, including Community Health Centers (CHCs).

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%
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