This year marks the 60th anniversary of the passage of the Migrant Health Act, the landmark agreement that sowed the seeds for what would later become the Community Health Center Program. Community health centers serve approximately 20% of the estimated 4.5 million Agricultural Workers in the United States. Health center staff members, community health workers, clinicians, executives, consumer board members, and Ag worker advocates have come together to develop more effective strategies to increase access to care for migratory and seasonal agricultural workers and their families through the Ag Worker Access Campaign. The Campaign was launched in 2015 in partnership between the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) and National Center for Farmworker Health (NCFH). The Campaign’s goal is to increase the number of Agricultural workers and their families served in health centers to 2 million. Migrant Health Program grantees and community health centers in general are critical to ensuring access to quality primary and preventive care for patients who might otherwise go without care.
Join us in celebrating this milestone anniversary and Agricultural Worker Health focus day!
Article provided by healthcenterweek.org
About National Health Center Week:
National Health Center Week (August 7 – 13 2022) is an annual celebration with the goal of raising awareness about the mission and accomplishments of America’s health centers over the past five decades.
Community Health Centers serve as the beacon of strength, service, and care in their communities. In moments of pain and loss, they offer support and love. In moments of triumph, they offer hope and a vision for the future. Let’s come together this week to celebrate the roles Community Health Centers have played in both our recent moments of loss and triumph. This National Health Center Week honors those front line providers, staff, and beloved patients who lost their lives during the (ongoing) COVID-19 pandemic. From the very beginning of the crisis, Community Health Centers began finding innovative ways to provide preventative and primary care to their patients.
During this week of remembrance, light a candle for those community health leaders, patients that we lost. As we commemorate those lives and celebrate the future of Community Health, let’s shine a light across the country that will embody the future of primary health care aces for underserved populations. Shine a light on your Community Health Center and share the value that it brings to everyone who it touches.