Dr. H. Jack Geiger, a pioneer dedicated to improving the lives of the medically undeserved, will soon have a new 26,000 square foot health center facility named in his honor in Mound Bayou, MS. The United States’ first rural Community Health Center — Delta Health Center (DHC), Inc.,– recently broke ground on the new  facility that will provide care to medically underserved families. Dr. Geiger  founded DHC, and along with Dr. Count Gibson, helped establish Delta as a demonstration project in the mid-1960s as part of the “War on Poverty.”

The pioneer was among those who helped to launch the national program now known as Community Health Centers that now serves over 22 million people, and has demonstrated a compelling track record of excellence, and urged strong bipartisan support and federal and state levels.

Construction of the new H. Jack Geiger Medical Center was made possible by a $5 million grant from the Health Services and Resources Administration (HRSA) under the Affordable Care Act.   The state-of-the-art facility will be built on the current property of the Mound Bayou health center — the oldest rural health center in America.  The H. Jack Geiger Medical Center will expand the health center’s capacity to see more families in need of affordable primary health care services, such as family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, dental care, and OB/GYN services. It will also offer diagnostic services such as radiology and a pharmacy.

To read more about the new facility visit: http://bit.ly/12F3TxR

For more on the history of Community Health Centers check out this video.