skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, December 26, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Advocates urge broader clemency despite Biden's death row commutes; Bald eagle officially becomes national bird, a conservation success; Hispanic pastors across TX, U.S. wanted for leadership network; When bycatch is on the menu.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The authors of Project 2025 say they'll carry out a hard-right agenda, voting rights advocates raise alarm over Trump's pick to lead the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, and conservatives aim to cut federal funding for public broadcasting.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

From the unprecedented election season to the latest environmental news, the Yonder Report looks back at stories that topped our weekly 2024 newscasts.

Community health leaders press Congress for more stable funding

play audio
Play

Monday, February 12, 2024   

Community Health Center leaders are pleading with Congress to pass a budget deal by March 8 to avoid a partial government shutdown - arguing that the uncertainty around funding makes it difficult to function.

Funding issues are expected to dominate discussion at the annual National Association of Community Health Centers Policy and Issues Forum in Washington D.C. - which starts today.

Kimberly Chang is a family physician at Asian Health Services in Oakland, who also serves as the Speaker of the House for the NACHC's executive board.

"Well, when you don't have a stable funding path and you're relying on Continuing Resolutions," said Chang, "it's so challenging to make plans for hiring additional staff and employ those initiatives to support the increased demand for our services. And we would never turn a patient away."

Community Health Centers are clinics that see patients no matter their insurance status or ability to pay.

They also face a shortage of primary care doctors, plus inflation and a fluctuating patient population as people are dropped from the Medicaid rolls after the pandemic.

The U.S. House and Senate both have bills that would increase funding for the centers, but they're tied up in budget negotiations that have dragged on since last fall.

Paloma Hernandez is president and CEO at Urban Health Plan, and is the chair of the NACHC's board. She pointed out that Community Health Centers are the country's largest primary care network.

"Many of us provide oral health, behavioral health, pharmacy services, specialty services," said Hernandez, "and then, we provide lots of related services that address some of the social drivers of health."

Community Health Centers helped more than 31 million people in 2022 - at 15,000 clinics that employ close to 300,000 people.

California alone has more than 2,300 clinics, serving 5.6 million patients.



Disclosure: National Association of Community Health Centers contributes to our fund for reporting on Budget Policy & Priorities, Health Issues. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
Many federal conservation programs received a boost in funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, one of the largest investments in climate Congress has made in the nation's history. (Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

A diverse group of Southwest Wisconsin farmers are using federally funded conservation programs to help improve their farms' soil health and resilienc…


Social Issues

play sound

Mainers are encouraged to be on the lookout for increasingly sophisticated scams during the holiday season. Fake emails appearing to be from …

Health and Wellness

play sound

Evanston Regional Hospital is discontinuing its labor and delivery services next week, citing a "steady decline of demand." It is the fourth Wyoming …


Opah are often caught as incidental catch alongside tuna. (NOAA/Flickr)

Environment

play sound

By Leilani Marie Labong for FoodPrint.Broadcast version by Suzanne Potter for California News Service reporting for the FoodPrint-Public News Service …

play sound

Connecticut is launching its Student Loan Reimbursement Program Jan. 1. The program was created through legislation passed by the state's General …

play sound

The deadline to apply is approaching for pastors who want to participate in the 2025 Hispanic Leadership Network. The 10-month program teaches …

Environment

play sound

The United States has a national mammal, tree and flower but the status of America's most treasured bird was not always so clear officially or …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021