Health Centers owe their existence to a remarkable turn of events in U.S. history, and a few determined community health and civil rights activists. Among the determined was H. Jack Geiger, who studied in South Africa and witnessed how a pioneering community health model had wrought astonishing improvements. In the 1960's, as President Johnson's declared "War on Poverty" began to ripple through America, the first proposal for the U.S. version of a community health center sprung to life at the Office of Economic Opportunity. Funding was approved in 1965 for the first two neighborhood health center demonstration projects, one in Boston, Massachusetts, and the other in Mound Bayou, Mississippi.

In 1960, Congress amended the Social Security Act, to provide states with grant money for the medically indigent. Two years later, the Migrant Health Act was signed into law to create rural clinics where migrant workers could find health care as they moved from place to place harvesting the nation's food. The law that marked the birth of America's Community Health Centers was the passage of the Economic Opportunity Act in 1964. This law targeted the roots of poverty by combining the resources of local communities with federal funds that would establish clinics in rural and urban areas around America. Research suggested that health disparities were reduced, infant mortality rates were lowered, and chronic diseases were reduced. The health centers created jobs and investments around the community.

Every Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), which is what these centers are now known as, are governed by a community board. The patients do not just pay for their health care cost, but htey also have a say in how their health care is delivered. There are patient representatives that serve on the center's board to help with these suggestions. The Health Care Center's location must be in a federally designated, medically undeserved area and have a non-profit, public, or tax-exempt status. The Center must provide primary health care, referrals, and other services needed to facilitate such care. Services should be provided to everyone in the area regardless of ability to pay, and offer a sliding scale fee that adjusts charges for care according to family income.