Even before COVID-19 arrived on America’s doorstep we were battling another health crisis — opioid use disorder. Nearly 90 percent of Community Health Centers offered behavioral health services onsite, including opioid treatment services before the massive pivot to address the pandemic began. And the grim news is that COVID may have worsened the problem of …
Category: Health Center News
COVID-19 Is Not Going Away
The consensus building among health experts is that we’re going to be in pandemic mode for the foreseeable future. On Capitol Hill, top disease expert and White House advisor Anthony Fauci today told lawmakers on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee that daily new cases could surpass 100,000 new infections per day if …
Notes from the Hot Zone: Health Centers Launch Testing Sites at Food Processing Plants
Here’s what’s remarkable: 60 percent of Community Health Centers nationwide have drive-through or walk-up testing for COVID-19, according to a new NACHC infographic. This massive pivot to address an unprecedented pandemic has happened in a matter of weeks, a testament to the nimble powers and innovation of health centers. They can sense a need and …
What COVID-19 Has Laid Bare
Ravi Kavasery, MD, is the Medical Director of Quality and Population Health, AltaMed Health Services, Los Angeles, CA, Associate Faculty, Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School Recently in the midst of closing out patient charts after a busy day in the medical clinic, I received a call …
Look For The Helpers
When the world feels like a different place, and there are scary headlines in the news, Mister Rogers urged us to “look for the helpers.” You don’t need to search very hard to find them at Community Health Centers. They are the providers at the drive-thru testing sites in parking lots; the Community Health Workers …
“Resilience Comes with Purpose”A Health Center Doctor Recovers from COVID-19
As a Family Physician, I knew that at some point I would become infected with COVID-19. For me, it was never a question of if I’d get sick, rather how soon and how sick I would get. Of course, there was also the added fear of bringing this home and infecting my husband; I’d worry …
Taking Care of Each Other in This Time of Crisis
This guest blog post is by Kimberly Becher, M.D. Dr. Becher practices at Community Care of West Virginia, Inc., a rural federally qualified health center in Clay County, W.Va. , This article was originally posted in the AAFP’s Fresh Perspectives blog”. You know that feeling When a huge storm is coming? If you live on …
COVID-19’s Financial Punch to Community Health Centers
COVID-19 has launched a devastating blow to the financial health of Community Health Centers, impacting visits, revenue, and employment. Working on the front lines of this pandemic, many health centers have already seen a surge of patients who need COVID-19 screening and treatment. They have pivoted to meet the pandemic in a matter of weeks, converting …
Ohio Health Center Doctor Sick With COVID-19 Soldiers On
“You still just go on,” she said, “because patients need you,” Dr. Mary Krebs tells Wall Street Journal reporter Jennifer Levitz in an article published today. Dr. Krebs is a family physician at HealthSource of Ohio, one of Ohio’s 56 Community Health Center organizations. Ohio’s Health Centers span about 400 sites and are part of a …
We Are The Shock Absorbers in the COVID-19 Pandemic
Our world is a different place now. The COVID-19 pandemic is shutting down normal life as we knew it and Community Health Centers turn their attention to the business of saving lives. We know that everyday heroics won’t be enough. Even so, we acknowledge their courage on the front lines, the difficult choices they are …