OUR MEMBER HEALTH CENTERS
As a Primary Care Association, our mission is to support our local health centers. Washington, DC has nine community health centers, including eight Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) and one FQHC Look-Alike. Together, they deliver integrated medical, dental, behavioral health, and enabling services at over 62 sites. Approximately 200,000 people, or 1 in 3 DC residents, receive care at a DC community health center each year.
Health centers are patient-centered organizations that provide comprehensive and cost-effective primary health care based on the unique needs of the communities they serve. Health centers serve everyone regardless of ability to pay or insurance status and offer sliding-scale services. For more information about health centers across the country, please see the NACHC 2020 Snapshot.
WHO OUR HEALTH CENTERS SERVE
As of 2020, 70% of DC health center patients live at or below the Federal Poverty Level and 19% of patients are uninsured. Health center patients reflect the diverse communities of Washington D.C. and Maryland with 95% of patients identifying as racial and/or ethnic minorities and 34% of patients indicating that they are best served in a language other than English.
Health centers work to meet the health and social needs of their patients by providing culturally responsive, patient-centered care and by partnering with community organizations. Deep inequities including systemic racism, poverty, and immigration status have a significant impact on our patients’ health and their access to quality healthcare. Collectively, health centers engage in policy advocacy, partnerships, and practice transformation to address the root causes of health inequities in the District.
MEASURES & OUTCOMES
Each year, HRSA Health Center Program Awardees (FQHCs and FQHC Look-Alikes) are required to report a core set of information, including data on patient demographics, services provided, clinical quality indicators, utilization rates, costs, and revenues. To view these data for health centers in DC, please visit the Health Center Program Data. To view a compilation of infographics on DC health center indicators for 2020, download the DC Health Center 2020 UDS Infographics.