COVID-19 has cut a destructive path across along racial lines. African Americans and Latinos are bearing the brunt of this virus with higher rates of infections. Few understand this better than the people who work at Community Health Centers. Health centers care for nearly 30 million people, and many of them are essential workers in …
Tag: COVID-19
A Health Center Fights Two Pandemics
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 …
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 …
State Directed Payment Arrangements to Support Behavioral Health Services during COVID-19
Written in collaboration with Subject-Matter Experts Roger Schwartz, Esq. and Mary Cieslicki, MHS Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) are the largest primary care network in the country, providing medical, dental, behavioral, and enabling services to over 29 million patients, including 1 in 5 Medicaid beneficiaries. Medicaid is the largest payer for mental health services in …
Looking Back to Move Forward: Understanding the Underlying Authorities to Help FQHCs Survive the COVID-19 Crisis
Guest Post by Susannah Vance Gopalan, Esq., Partner at Feldesman Tucker Leifer Fidell LLP in Washington, DC with editorial contributions from Bethany Hamilton, Esq. of NACHC State Affairs Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) have experienced rapid declines in patient encounters and revenues since the onset of the pandemic, being forced to lay off employees or …
Celebrating Mothers Means Ensuring Access to Care
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to create challenging situations across the country, changing the way patients get their care and exacerbating disparities in health care. Unequal access to health care and the wellbeing that comes with it is not new. Policies impacting access to care for marginalized populations result in health disparities–preventable differences in the burden …
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 …