Choptank Community Health System is celebrating National Health Center Week 2024 this August 4-10 to highlight the essential role Community Health Centers play in improving public health and advancing health equity. Health centers represent the nation’s largest primary care network, serving 31.5 million patients nationwide and powered by a workforce of nearly 300,000 dedicated professionals.
This year’s National Association of Community Health Centers celebration focuses on “Powering Communities Through Caring Connections”.
Health centers like Choptank Health work on the front lines of our nation’s most pressing public health challenges with a mission to make high-quality, affordable care available to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay or insurance status.
According to the National Association of Community Health Centers, nearly 1,500 health centers nationwide serve as the healthcare home to one in five uninsured people; one in three people living in poverty; one in seven rural residents; nearly nine million children; and 400,000 veterans.
“Choptank Health and other Community Health Centers like us are integral to our rural and national primary healthcare system,” says Choptank Health President and CEO Sara Rich. “We design innovative, integrated primary care based on what services communities need most, ensuring access to affordable, quality healthcare for more than 31.5 million people, especially for our most vulnerable families and individuals.”
Rich continued, “Choptank Health’s dedicated professionals reach beyond the walls of the exam room to not only prevent illness but also address the social drivers, including homelessness, substance use disorders, food insecurity, behavioral health, and much more.”
Choptank Community Health System provides medical, dental, and School-Based health services to more than 30,000 adults and children in Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s, and Talbot counties, with a mission to provide access to exceptional, comprehensive, and integrated healthcare for all. Services include primary healthcare, women’s health, pediatrics, pediatric dental, behavioral health, chronic health management, lab services, and care navigation, with new medical patients welcomed. More information is at www.choptankhealth.org.
To learn more about the mission and accomplishments of health centers, visit www.nachc.org. You can learn more about NHCW and view a listing of events at www.healthcenterweek.org
