2023 National Health Center Week Release PDF
***Media Advisory ***
August 6, 2023
CONTACT: Stacie Borrello, Communications and External Affairs Manager, North Carolina Community Health Center Association, 919-996-9208, borrellos@ncchca.org
A variety of Federally Qualified Health Centers will pass out free school supplies and bookbags, hold health and wellness fairs, celebrate new site openings, offer free assistance with enrolling in health coverage, host public officials, and more.
Experience a range of fun events, free giveaways, and health resources as National Health Center Week returns from August 6 to August 12, 2023. National Health Center Week is an annual, nationwide celebration of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), also known as community health centers (CHCs), which provide integrated primary care, dental, behavioral health, and pharmacy services to the entire community, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay at over 400 clinical sites across North Carolina.
Serving more than 750,000 patients across N.C., community health centers represent hope and resilience to the diverse populations they serve, which include school children, the uninsured, the unhoused, migrant farmworkers, public housing residents, and more. During this special national week of celebration, community health centers across the state are extending an open invitation to the public to join in the fun as they highlight the strength, unwavering dedication, and compassionate care N.C. health centers provide to our communities.
Click here for a list of the public National Health Center Week events happening across North Carolina this week. (Click the page numbers at the bottom to view all events.)
The 2023 national theme is “Community Health Centers: The Roadmap to a Stronger America.” With more than 50 events that will highlight the contributions of community health centers, attendees will have the opportunity to access health resources, enjoy free giveaways, and take part in exciting community events that offer something for every member of the family.
Throughout this inspiring week, community health centers will work to raise awareness about the affordable health care services they provide and the value they bring to communities across the state. Health centers hope to demonstrate to members of Congress that increased federal funding is needed to ensure continued access to high-quality, affordable healthcare in underserved areas.
Another important part of National Health Center Week is recognizing the contributions of staff, stakeholders, and — most of all — patients, who make up a majority of all health center governing boards. By joining together in celebration and hosting events for their communities, health centers will strengthen bonds and make progress toward a healthier, more vibrant America.
Don’t miss the opportunity to learn about the services community health centers provide on the following focus days:
● Sunday, 8/6 – Public Health in Housing Day
● Monday, 8/7 – Healthcare for People Experiencing Homelessness
● Tuesday, 8/8 – Agricultural Worker Health Day
● Wednesday, 8/9 – Patient Appreciation
● Thursday, 8/10 – Stakeholder Appreciation
● Friday, 8/11 – Health Center Staff Appreciation
● Saturday, 8/12 – Children’s Health’s Day
The North Carolina Community Health Center Association (NCCHCA) Group Purchasing Organization (GPO) is excited to announce the addition of PicassoMD as our latest vendor member. Our GPO’s primary objective is to enhance shared services and strategic sourcing solutions for health centers across North Carolina. We believe that partnering with PicassoMD will enable us to achieve this goal by offering specialty e-consults through their Curbside platform.
Description of Services
PicassoMD Curbside is an informal interprofessional communication between a primary care provider (PCP) and a specialist. PicassoMD has created an online platform that can rapidly match a PCP with a specialist across nearly 30 service lines to support and augment clinical decision-making. Once connected, providers can communicate through a chat-like interface with the specialist.
All communications and images are exchanged on PicassoMD’s HIPAA compliant mobile/web-based platform, and a transcript of the curbside is automatically generated upon its completion.
With existing engagements with Kintegra Health and Blue Ridge Health, PicassoMD’s joining NCCHCA’s GPO is a natural progression that will expand the range of services available, generate cost savings, and optimize efficiencies for the benefit of our members and their patients.
For inquiries regarding initiating a partnership with PicassoMD, interested health centers should reach out to NCCHCA’s Director of Business Development: Karen Pryce at prycek@ncchca.org.
NCCHCA extends its sincere appreciation to PicassoMD for their dedication and efforts in establishing this collaboration. For additional information, please visit the PicassoMD website or contact Karen Pryce.
MEDIA ADVISORY
June 7, 2023
NCCHCA Presents 2023 Community Health Leadership Award to Governor Roy Cooper at Annual Conference
The North Community Health Center Association (NCCHCA), the state’s Primary Care Association representing 43 community health center organizations, hosts its 44th Annual Primary Care Conference (PCC) this week in Durham, NC. More than 350 health care providers, executives, and staff from safety-net organizations will discuss leadership, workforce, Medicaid expansion, clinical topics, improving patient care, and more. In addition, NCCHCA has partnered with the North Carolina School Based Health Alliance this year to offer a track on school-based health services.
As part of the annual event, NCCHCA Board Chair Michelle Lewis, CEO of Triad Adult and Pediatric Medicine, presented the association’s 2023 Community Health Leadership Award to Governor Roy Cooper, in recognition of his strong leadership in passing Medicaid expansion, which will extend health care coverage to hundreds of thousands of people in North Carolina.
Saying that this award was thanks to the hard work of the assembled members of the primary care workforce, Governor Cooper thanked attendees for their sacrifice during COVID and their commitment to health equity in underserved communities, saying, “You chose a path that puts you with people who need you most.” Emphasizing his belief that all people should have some type of health care coverage, Governor Cooper also spoke of his plan to invest more than $1 billion to expand access to behavioral health care in the state.
NC Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore are also recipients of the 2023 Community Health Leadership Award for leading their chambers to passage of this important health policy.
In addition, NC Representative Donny Lambeth is the recipient of NCCHCA’s 2023 NC Community Health Advocate of the Year award, in recognition of his long-time championship of Medicaid expansion.
Medicaid expansion will have a significant positive impact on community health centers and the patients they serve, without regard to insurance status or ability to pay. Currently, 36% of patients seen at North Carolina’s Federally Qualified Community Health Centers (FQHCs) are uninsured. Medicaid expansion means that health centers will receive reimbursement for the care they provide to patients who have gained health coverage through expansion. This increase in reimbursements for care will enable health centers to expand their staff or add new programs or sites.
Additionally, North Carolina State Treasurer Dale Folwell addressed PCC attendees on Thursday, June 8. After his address, he presented two community health center organizations with refund payments to bring attention to the Unclaimed Property Division.
About NCCHCA: The North Carolina Community Health Center Association represents 43 Community Health Center (CHC) organizations that operate over 400 clinical sites in 85 N.C. counties and served 743,000 patients in 2021. CHCs are federally funded, non-profit organizations that provide integrated primary, dental, and behavioral health care to underserved and rural communities, without regard for insurance status or ability to pay.
CONTACT: Stacie Borrello, Communications and External Affairs Manager, North Carolina Community Health Center Association, 919-996-9208, borrellos@ncchca.org. Members of the press can inquire about limited access to the event and/or interviews with spokespeople.
| 4:00-7:00 pm | Welcome Reception: Unwind & Design (see details below). Heavy hors d’oeuvres served. |
| 7:30 am | Registration Opens |
| 8:00-9:00 am | Breakfast |
| 9:30-10:30 am | Open and Welcoming Plenary
Integrated Care and the Transformation of Behavioral Health Delivery Neftali Serrano, PsyD, Collaborative Care Association |
| 10:30-11:00 am | Break |
| 11:00-12:00 pm | Topical Roundtables and Networking
During this time, colleagues from across the state will gather to discuss work, innovations, and concerns in community health. A moderator and panel of experts will be on hand to lead discussion and answer questions. Pick from two roundtable discussions topics: Session A: Meeting Behavioral Health Needs
Session B: Clinical Special Populations
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| 12:00-1:30 pm | Lunch and Plenary
NC’s Workforce for Health: Moving Forward Strategically and Sustainably Kathy Colville, MSW, MSPH, President and CEO, North Carolina Institute of Medicine |
| 1:30-1:45 pm | Transition Break |
| 1:45-3:00 pm | Concurrent Sessions
1. Collaborative Care Model Overview for FQHCs – Chris Weathington, Liz Griffin, Terri Roberts and Adam Zoltor, AHEC 2. Diabetes Management: Updated Guidelines and Considerations for CHCs – Meriah Ward, DNP, FNP-BC, Advance Community Health 3. Building Healthier Communities Together: Using NCCARE360 and other Technology Tools to Support Patients – Tasha Winstead, Unite Us 4. Lessons Learned from Incorporating Social Determinants of Health into Clinical Care – Maria Perez, HOP Program Manager, NC DHHS; Dan Kimberg, Director of Operations and Strategy, NC InCK |
| 3:00-3:30 pm | Break |
| 3:30-4:45 pm | Concurrent Sessions
1. Implementation of Integrated Care Models: Best Practices to Drive Clinical Outcomes and Patient Experience – Portia Johnson, PharmD, MHA, Advance Community Health 2. HIV: Screening, Prevention, and Management within Community Health – Meriah Ward, DNP, FNP-BC, Advance Community Health 3. Access is Quality: The role of tele-behavioral health during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic – Dr. Eric Tucker, EDD, MSW, LCSW, Director of Behavioral Health, Advance Community Health 4. Medicaid and Value-Based Care: An Update and Next Steps – Liz Kasper, MSPH, Special Policy Advisor – Alternative Payment Models, NC DHHS; Rebecca Whitaker, PhD, MSPH, Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy |
| 5:30-7:00 pm | Dinner and Networking Event at Foothills Brewing |
| 7:30 am | Registration Opens |
| 8:00-9:00 am | Breakfast |
| 8:30-9:45 am | Concurrent Sessions
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| 9:45-10:15 am | Break |
| 10:15-11:15 am | Plenary Session
Recovering Stronger: NC State Health Priorities Secretary Kody Kinsley, NC DHHS |
| 11:15-11:30 am | Break |
| 11:30 am – 12:30 pm | Concurrent Sessions
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| 12:30-2:00 pm | Lunch, Awards, and Closing Plenary
Meeting Patients Where They Are Pam Tripp, CEO CommWell Health |
In partnership with Northwest Area Health Education Center (AHEC), a program of Wake Forest University School of Medicine and part of the NC AHEC System.
Up to 9.25 Contact Hours and 0.9 CEUs from Northwest AHEC
> Day 1 – Oct. 20, 2022 • 0.5 CEUs from Northwest AHEC • 5.25 Contact Hours from Northwest AHEC
> Day 2 – Oct. 21, 2022 • 0.4 CEUs from Northwest AHEC • 4.0 Contact Hours from Northwest AHEC
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Wednesday, October 19th
Heavy hors d’oeuvres will be served while you enjoy choosing from three activities at the Benton Convention Center Piedmont:
Thursday, October 20th
Networking event at Foothills Brewery Footnote, 634 W. 4th Street Ste. #120, Winston-Salem
Signature cocktails, wine, craft beer await our conference attendees and vendors with a special dinner menu that’s been created for those hungry taste buds.
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This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award totaling $1,557,131 with 99 percent financed with nongovernmental sources. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.
***Media Release***
August 8, 2022
Contacts: Stacie Borrello, NCCHCA Communications & External Affairs Manager | borrellos@ncchca.org, 919-996-9208; Brendan Riley, NCCHCA VP, Government Relations & External Affairs | rileyb@ncchca.org, 919-469-1116
Expanding Medicaid Would Increase Community Health Center Reimbursement Revenue by 32% on Average, New Analysis Finds
Passing Medicaid Expansion Would Create Jobs in the Health Care Workforce and Expand Care Access in Rural and Underserved Communities
Click to view and download the August 2022 Issue Brief: More Than an Insurance Card: How Medicaid expansion will increase the services of NC Community Health Centers and improve health outcomes.
A new analysis of North Carolina Community Health Center data released this week shows that expanding Medicaid would not only directly benefit individuals gaining coverage, but it would also significantly increase revenue for North Carolina’s Community Health Centers (CHCs), allowing health centers to expand services and serve more patients. On average, net increases in reimbursements to CHCs would jump by 32.2 percent annually—for health care services they are already providing to their uninsured patients.
CHCs play an important role as safety-net providers in medically underserved communities. While these Centers do their job well with limited resources, they face challenges because North Carolina has not yet expanded Medicaid. While CHCs are the provider of choice for hundreds of thousands of insured patients, an average of 40 percent of CHC patients are uninsured, putting a strain on CHC operating budgets.
Because CHCs are required to reinvest all non-grant funds into programs that expand care access for the medically underserved, expanding Medicaid will promote financial stability for these critical safety net providers and allow them to increase capacity.
“Under Medicaid expansion, we would be getting an additional $3-4 million a year in revenue from Medicaid. Those are dollars that Federally Qualified Health Centers will reinvest into new services and new practice locations,” said Chris Vann, chief development officer at CommWell Health, a Community Health Center with sites in five counties throughout the southeastern region of North Carolina.
Medicaid expansion would also enable CHCs to make investments in expanding access to care by recruiting more providers to rural communities and expanding service lines like behavioral health and Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) services.
“With Medicaid expansion, we can add comprehensive specialties such as cardiology, podiatry, or ophthalmology practices to support our patients with comorbid conditions that we see frequently, like hypertension and diabetes,” said Scot McCray, CEO of Advance Community Health in Raleigh.
By keeping patients out of the ER and preventing hospitalizations, CHCs help reduce health care spending by approximately 29 percent per patient per year, making health centers a remarkable investment for health care dollars.
“While we understand that some lawmakers are concerned that expanding Medicaid would create a strain on provider capacity, our research shows that Medicaid expansion would, in fact, bolster our providers’ capacity. Medicaid expansion would mean that our Community Health Centers, who now serve a significant portion of uninsured patients, would receive reimbursements for care that was previously uncompensated, allowing health centers to increase capacity by hiring more staff and expanding programs to serve more patients,” said Brendan Riley, NCCHCA’s Vice President of Government Relations & External Affairs.
For a detailed look at how Medicaid Expansion would impact Community Health Centers and their patients, refer to the North Carolina Community Health Center Association’s August 2022 Issue Brief: More Than an Insurance Card: How Medicaid expansion will increase the services of NC Community Health Centers and improve health outcomes.
About CHCs: Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), also known as Community Health Centers (CHCs), which provide integrated primary medical, dental, pharmacy, behavioral health, and enabling services to more than 743,000 people in the state, regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay. By mission, Community Health Centers provide high-quality care in rural and medically underserved communities and to vulnerable populations, and as such are the backbone of the primary care safety net in North Carolina.
About NCCHCA: The North Carolina Community Health Center Association represents 42 Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) member organizations that provide integrated medical, dental, pharmacy, behavioral health, and enabling services to more than 743,000 patients at over 370 clinical service sites in 85 N.C. counties.
Click the link to view and download the two-page Issue Brief: More Than an Insurance Card: How Medicaid expansion will increase the services of NC Community Health Centers and improve health outcomes
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www.NCCHCA.org | 4917 Waters Edge Drive, Suite 165, Raleigh, NC 27606 | 919-469-5701
***Media Advisory***
August 4, 2022
Dozens of Sites Celebrate National Community Health Center Week, August 7-13
Federally Qualified Health Centers to Host Public Officials, Hold Ribbon Cuttings, Provide Free Health Services, and Engage in Public Outreach
Who: The North Carolina Community Health Center Association (NCCCHA), which represents 42 Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) member organizations that provide integrated medical, dental, pharmacy, behavioral health, and enabling services to more than 685,000 patients at over 370 clinical service sites in 85 N.C. counties.
Contacts: Stacie Borrello, NCCHCA Communications & External Affairs Manager | borrellos@ncchca.org, 919-996-9208; Brendan Riley, NCCHCA VP, Government Relations & External Affairs| rileyb@ncchca.org, 919-469-1116
National Health Center Week, August 7-13, 2022, is an annual, nationwide celebration of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), also known as Community Health Centers (CHCs), which provide integrated primary care services to the entire community regardless of insurance status or ability to pay at over 370 sites across North Carolina. The goal of the week-long event is to raise awareness about the mission and value of CHCs and celebrate the contributions of staff, stakeholders, and — most of all — patients, who make up a majority of all CHC governing boards. CHCs across the state are holding over 30 public events in celebration:
The North Carolina Community Health Center Association encourages press to attend public events during National Health Center Week to report on the innovative ways our CHCs provide high-quality primary care and enabling services to underserved communities, furthering their mission of improving health outcomes and reducing health disparities.
Click here for a list of the public National Health Center Week Events happening across North Carolina next week. (Click the page numbers at the bottom to view all events.)
Learn more about National Health Center Week at https://healthcenterweek.org. Please reach out to the NCCHCA contacts above for more event details or assistance connecting with a CHC. 
At the 2022 Primary Care Conference in Wilmington, the North Carolina Community Health Center Association (NCCHCA) held an awards luncheon to honor a bi–partisan group of lawmakers who have consistently advocated for the needs of Community Health Centers and our patients.
The Association presented N.C. State Senator Jim Perry (R-Lenoir, Wayne) with our Community Health Advocate of the Year Award, which is presented to lawmakers who have made significant contributions toward the development and support of Community Health Centers and the communities they serve within the past year. Thanks to Senator Perry’s leadership, North Carolina has enacted protections for affordable medications and other critical Community Health Centers services made possible through the 340B drug discount program. 
NCCHCA also recognized three retiring members of Congress with the Association’s Community Health Champion Legacy Award, which honors their longstanding service, dedication, and advocacy on behalf of Community Health Centers and the patients and communities we serve across North Carolina.
This year’s Community Health Champion Legacy Awardees were:
While they were not able to attend the luncheon in person, the honorees accepted their awards with pre-recorded remarks that were played for attendees.
While we took time to reflect on our shared accomplishments and express gratitude to those policy makers who share our mission, we also looked ahead to our future policy goals, which include expanding Medicaid, protecting the 340B Drug Discount Program, and enhancing Community Health Center funding to support the expansion of needed programs such as increased behavioral health services.
