COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS

Community Health Centers (CHCs) are one of four types of health centers funded by the federal government under the Consolidated Health Center Program. Core requirements for all health centers include:

• Governance by a patient majority Board of Directors
  
• Service in a Medically Underserved Area (MUA) or to a Medically Underserved Population (MUP)
  
• Provision of services regardless of ability to pay
  
• Provision of primary, oral, mental health/substance abuse services to patients in all stages of the life cycle
  
• Board approved sliding fee scale based on patient income and family size
  
• Compliance with all federal and state regulations
  

The South Carolina Primary Health Care Association (SCPHCA) has been working to increase the availability of quality health care to low-income, uninsured, isolated, vulnerable, and special need populations since 1979. The SCPHCA is committed to meeting the unique health care needs of these populations and to reduce health disparities across the state by providing capacity-building services and coordinating initiatives necessary to strengthen Community Health Centers (CHCs) in SC.
 

Specific groups served include:

• The uninsured
  
• Those with public health insurance coverage
  
• Chronically ill
  
• Elderly
  
• Individuals suffering from mental illness
  
• Those living with HIV/AIDS
  
• Children
  
• Migrant and seasonal farmworkers and their families and homeless individuals
  

These populations continue to experience barriers in accessing high quality preventive and primary health care services in the state.

In addition to meeting the health care needs of our patients, our CHCs serve as economic engines in the counties that we serve and serve as entry level employers for many health care and administrative disciplines.